Stress controlled magnetic properties of Cobalt nanowires

We investigate the magnetic properties of a composite comprising of ferromagnetic Cobalt nanowires embedded in nanoporous anodized alumina template. We observe unusual increase in, the saturation magnetization and the coercive field, of the nanowires below 100 K. We also report the appearance of an unusual exchange bias effect in nanowires below 100 K. We argue our results can be understood on the basis of a competition between different magnetic energy scales induced by significant stresses acting on the nanowires at low temperatures. The composite behaves as an effective medium in which the magnetic anisotropy of nanowires can be conveniently controlled via stress on the nanowires.