Magnetic nanostructures for advanced technologies: fabrication, metrology and challenges

Magnetic nanostructures are an integral part to many state-of-the-art and emerging technologies. However, the complete path from parts (the nanostructures) to the manufacturing of the end products is not always obvious to students of magnetism. The paper follows this path of the magnetic nanostructure, and explains some of the steps along the way: What are the technologies that employ magnetic nanostructures? How are these nanostructures made? What is the physics behind the functional parts? How are the magnetic properties measured? Finally, we present, in our view, a list of challenges hindering progress in these technologies.