Single-particle versus collective effects in assemblies of nanomagnets: screening

Abstract

We discuss experimentally realizable situations in which surface effects may "screen out" the dipolar interactions in an assembly of nanomagnets, which then behaves as a noninteracting system. We consider three examples of physical observables, equilibrium magnetization, ac susceptibility and ferromagnetic resonance spectrum, to illustrate this screening effect. For this purpose, we summarize the formalism that accounts for both the intrinsic features of the nanomagnets and their collective effects within an assembly the condition for screening.