First-order reversal curve (FORC) diagrams of nanomagnets with cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy: A numerical approach

Highlights: • A numerical model for hysteresis and FORC modelling is developed. • Characteristic FORC diagrams for SD particles with negative and positive anisotropy constants were obtained. • Intrinsic coercivities are higher for positive anisotropy constant. -- Abstract: First-order reversal curve (FORC) diagrams are increasingly used as a material's magnetic domain state fingerprint. FORC diagrams of noninteracting dispersions of single-domain (SD) particles with uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) are well studied. However, a large class of materials possess a cubic MCA, for which the FORC diagram properties of noninteracting SD particle dispersions are less understood. A coherent rotation model was implemented to study the FORC diagram properties of noninteracting ensembles of SD particles with positive and negative MCA constants. The pattern formation mechanism is identified and related to the irreversible events the individual particles undergo. Our results support the utility of FORC diagrams for the identification of noninteracting to weakly-interacting SD particles with cubic MCA.