Advanced magnetic nanostructures is an emerging field in magnetism and nanotechnology, but the literature consists of a rich variety of original papers and parts of reviews and books whose scope is comparatively broad. This calls for a book with specific emphasis on state-of-the-art synthetic methods for fabricating, characterizing and theoretically modeling new magnetic nanostructures. This book is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the present state of the field. Leading researchers world-wide have contributed a survey of their special ties to guide the reader through the exploding literature in nanomagnetic structures.

The focus is on deliberately structured nanomagnets. It includes cluster assembled, self-organized and patterned thin films but excludes, for example, multilayered thin films. We target both industrial and academic researchers in magnetism and related areas, such as nanotechnology, materials science, and theoretical solid-state physics.

Advanced magnetic nanostructures is an emerging field in magnetism and nanotechnology, but the literature consists of a rich variety of original papers and parts of reviews and books whose scope is comparatively broad. This calls for a book with specific emphasis on state-of-the-art synthetic methods for fabricating, characterizing and theoretically modeling new magnetic nanostructures. This book is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the present state of the field. Leading researchers world-wide have contributed a survey of their special ties to guide the reader through the exploding literature in nanomagnetic structures.

The focus is on deliberately structured nanomagnets. It includes cluster assembled, self-organized and patterned thin films but excludes, for example, multilayered thin films. We target both industrial and academic researchers in magnetism and related areas, such as nanotechnology, materials science, and theoretical solid-state physics.

For hundreds of years, models of magnetism have been pivotal in the understanding and advancement of science and technology, from the Earth's interpretation as a magnetic dipole to quantum mechanics, statistical physics, and modern nanotechnology. This book is the first to envision the field of magnetism in its entirety. It complements a rich literature on specific models of magnetism and provides an introduction to simple models, including some simple limits of complicated models. The book is written in an easily accessible style, with a limited amount of mathematics, and covers a wide range of quantum-mechanical, finite-temperature, micromagnetic and dynamical models. It deals not only with basic magnetic quantities, such as moment, Curie temperature, anisotropy, and coercivity, but also with modern areas such as nanomagnetism and spintronics, and with 'exotic' themes, as exemplified by the polymer analogy of magnetic phase transitions. Throughout the book, a sharp line is drawn between simple and simplistic models, and much space is devoted to discuss the merits and failures of the individual model approaches.

For hundreds of years, models of magnetism have been pivotal in the understanding and advancement of science and technology, from the Earth's interpretation as a magnetic dipole to quantum mechanics, statistical physics, and modern nanotechnology. This book is the first to envision the field of magnetism in its entirety. It complements a rich literature on specific models of magnetism and provides an introduction to simple models, including some simple limits of complicated models. The book is written in an easily accessible style, with a limited amount of mathematics, and covers a wide range of quantum-mechanical, finite-temperature, micromagnetic and dynamical models. It deals not only with basic magnetic quantities, such as moment, Curie temperature, anisotropy, and coercivity, but also with modern areas such as nanomagnetism and spintronics, and with 'exotic' themes, as exemplified by the polymer analogy of magnetic phase transitions. Throughout the book, a sharp line is drawn between simple and simplistic models, and much space is devoted to discuss the merits and failures of the individual model approaches.

As more advanced materials find their way into daily life, a better understanding of degradation processes is required, allowing us to more accurately predict their lifetime and further increase their performance, reliability. While degradation processes are initiated at molecular (subnanometer) scale, the nanostructure and nanoconfinement of materials alter the degradation processes occurring in materials at micron or larger scales, and eventually trigger new degradation routes. This book studies the effect of nanometer-scale structure and confinement on degradation processes and analyzes the experimental and theoretical approaches used to estimate the lifetime of nanostructured and nanoconfined materials in various environments. Various topics are addressed - from electronic, optical, structural, and magnetic nanomaterials to space, chemical, biological and medical applications. There is also an emphasis on the time dependence associated with artificial treatments involving electrical currents, annealing, and irradiation by various sources, such as gamma radiation and ions.