PC Micromagnetics Simulator Release
Beta 2.0
The PC Micromagnetic Simulator (SimulMag) is a personal computer based magnetic design tool developed by John Oti while he was in the Electromagnetic Technology Division of EEEL/NIST. This software is no longer being developed or supported at NIST, and is provided "as is."
These pages are based on earlier pages written by John Oti.
Brief introduction to the software
The simulator allows one to construct a magnetic device or circuit and simulate the system response under the influence of external magnetic fields, currents, or local field sources. The program is expected to be most useful as an effective tool in the development of initial device design concepts and their rapid iterative analyses before rigorous modeling is attempted. The software may also have potential pedagogical uses for classroom instruction of micromagnetics.
The software requires Windows 95 or Windows NT 3.51 or higher to run.
Available on this web site are beta versions of the micromagnetics simulator (Simulmag v2.0j) and the design viewer program (MMS Viewer v2.0i), design file examples illustrating software features and the user's manual with addendum. Features include:
- Parametric simulation capability in which geometric and magnetic properties of elements making up a design as well as the applied external field properties, can be systematically varied in a sequence of simulation runs. Output is in the form of surface plots formed from the curve characteristics obtained for individual parameter values. Additional output such as planar slices of the surface plots are generated using analysis tools available in the software.
- Simulation of soft-magnetic elements using a demagnetization-modified permeability model.
- External field pulse application capability.
- More robust and accurate computational engine.
- Backward compatibility to previous version design files.
- Unprecedented visualization of interacting magnetic objects is allowed.
- The geometry and the magnetic states of a completed design are displayed in three dimensions. The analysis is based on a collection of single-domain elements whose size and position can be specified by the designer.
- The elements may be magnetic or nonmagnetic, a conductor or an insulator. The elements' magnetic properties, such as magnetization, anisotropy, pinning fields, resistivity must be specified or selected from a library of materials.
- Electrical circuits can be specified and currents applied.
- The elements interact via magnetostatic interactions and user specified exchange interactions.
- The magnetization processes in a design are simulated using static and dynamic (Landau-Lifshitz) calculation methods.
- The elements are arranged in groups to allow different structures to be built up and manipulated independently. Relative motion between the groups can be specified. For example one can design a group that describes an advanced recording head and a group describing the magnetic structure in media. These two groups can then be moved relative to each other in a way to simulate the recording process.
- The program output consists of a movie of the evolution of magnetic moments of all of the elements, plots of the magnetization of either the whole system or user-defined groups, and plots of the magnetoresistance of the system or user-defined groups.
- A simulation can be recorded for later playback.
- The configuration of a design, a recorded simulation and the output data can be conveniently saved to disk files for further analysis.
Navigating this site
Using the following links you will be able to obtain copies of the simulator program, a simulation viewer program (MMS Viewer), the user's manual, design examples and answers to commonly asked questions concerning the software. The viewer program automatically plays back recorded simulations and permits viewing and saving to file of all simulation data. When installed the viewer is much smaller than the simulator program and can be used as a plug-in in your web browser for convenient online viewing of design examples. This will enable you to readily evaluate the capabilities of the software before embarking on your own designs with the simulator. The system requirements for the viewer program are the same as for the simulator.
DISCLAIMER: The calculated results do not necessarily describe what would be realized from an actual experimental measurement. All magnetic simulators perform idealized calculations and cannot necessarily describe effects resulting from fine details inherently present in real magnetic samples. This program is based on a relatively simple single-domain model for speed of calculation. Other techniques may produce different results. Interested users are invited to review the information of the NIST muMAG activity.
Commercial equipment and software referred to on these pages are identified for informational purposes only, and does not imply recommendation of or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the products so identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.
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Date created: February 10, 1999 | Last updated: April 27, 2011 Contact: Webmaster