Enhancing coercivity through geometric interconnects in nanowire and nanotube networks

We present a micromagnetic study of interconnected cylindrical permalloy nanostructures, where both the geometry of the vertical elements (nanowires or nanotubes) and position of the horizontal interconnects are systematically varied. By analyzing the coercivity and normalized remanence as a function of the vertical placement of the interconnects, we uncover a counterintuitive result: interconnected networks can exhibit higher coercivity than their nonconnected counterparts, despite the fact that the interconnects lie in a plane orthogonal to the applied magnetic field. This coercivity enhancement, observed across different structural configurations, reveals a strong dependence on geometric coupling. While interconnected systems tend to display a slight reduction in normalized remanence, the observed tunability in coercive behavior is both robust and reproducible. Our results uncover a simple yet effective strategy to engineer magnetic hardness through architectural design, without altering the material composition, offering promising pathways for the development of reconfigurable magnetic devices at the nanoscale.