Seminar – Amalio Fernández-Pacheco

On Monday 28^th September at 11 AM (TRT auditorium), we will be pleased to welcome Amalio Fernández-Pacheco (Vienna University of Technology, TU Wien) who will give a seminar at the laboratory.

Title:

“3D nanomagnetism: recent advances in fabrication, materials, and characterisation”

Abstract:

The expansion of nanotechnology into three dimensions offers exciting opportunities to uncover physical phenomena that have no direct analogue in planar systems and to develop advanced devices for future computing technologies [1]. Realizing this potential requires nanofabrication methods that can pattern free-form magnetic architectures, together with characterization tools able to access curved, tilted and buried surfaces. In this seminar, I’ll present some of our recent works in this realm.

I’ll first focus on focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID), a direct-write nanofabrication method to create free-standing structures with arbitrary 3D geometries. We present recent extensions to our layer-by-layer f3ast platform [2], including high automation workflows and integration with tomographic measurements. Furthermore, we have investigated the 3D printing of new precursors like Fe, CoFe, and tungsten carbide. I’ll show there how we can achieve controlled domain wall conduit in 3D, complex spin states, and superconducting 3D circuits [3]. I will also describe initial results with non-conventional FEBID to tune magnetic materials.

In the second part, I’ll focus on double-helix nanowires, where chirality drives the formation of fractional skyrmion tubes [4] and Bloch point singularities with controlled spin texture [5]. We have further investigated multilayer deposition on 3D scaffolds fabricated by FEBID, two-photon lithography, and corrugated substrates, where curvature and torsion influence exchange bias [6] and skyrmion formation on curved surfaces. Finally, I will discuss new advances towards 3D magneto-optical Kerr effect characterisation, including dark-field magnetometry [7], nonplanar Kerr imaging [8], and vector magnetometry via Fourier space configurations [9].

[1] A. Fernández-Pacheco et al., Nature Comm. 8, 15756 (2017).

[2] Skoric et al., Nano Letters 20 (2020) 184-191.

[3] Zhakina, et al., Adv. Func. Mater. 2506057 (2025).

[4] Fullerton et al., Advanced Functional Materials 36 250161 (2026).

[5] Leo et al., ACS Nano (2026), accepted. Preprint: arXiv:2605.29672.
[6] Singh et al., npj Spintronics (2026), doi:10.1038/s44306-026-00148-w.

[7] Sanz-Hernández et al., J. Appl. Phys. 133.4 (2023).
[8] Zhao et al., Phys. Rev. Appl. (2026), accepted. Preprint: arXiv:2601.08059 (2026).

[9] Sandoval et al. Phys. Rev. B 107.17 (2023): 174420.