Magnetic correlations in nanostructured metals and an extended random-anisotropy model

Small-angle neutron scattering experiments on nanostructured Fe reveal spat ial magnetic correlations across the interfaces which depend strongly on gr ain size, with a minimum at around 35 nm. This grain size is comparable wit h L-crit = pi delta, with delta the bulk domain-wall width. We present an e xtended random-anisotropy model to explain the magnetic properties in the l ow grain size regime and explain the crossover of the magnetic properties f or grain sizes comparable with L-crit. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physi cs. [S0021-8979(99)76908-2].