Evidence for strong magnetoelastic effects in Ni nanowires embedded in polycarbonate membranes

The uniaxial anisotropy energy of arrays of submicronic (30--500 nm) Ni wires synthesized by electrodeposition into cylindrical pores of track-etched polycarbonate membranes is studied as a function of temperature. At room temperature, the uniaxial anisotropy is equal to the shape anisotropy whereas an additional contribution, that reinforces the wire axis as an easy axis is evidenced at low temperature. This additional contribution is demonstrated to find its origin in magnetoelastic effects conjointly induced by the Ni and polycarbonate thermal-expansion coefficients mismatch and by the low volume fraction of Ni in Ni/polycarbonate samples.