Abstract
An accurate analytical equation for the total energy in the framework of the single domain model is used to study the thermal stability of nanostructured synthetic ferrimagnets. Elliptical cells are considered that have lateral dimensions of 160 nm (long axis)$\times$80 nm (short axis) and varying values of thickness asymmetry for the two magnetic layers. The direction of the applied magnetic field, which points to the $45^{\circ}$ direction, is in the opposite direction to the thicker layer magnetization. A significant difference is observed in the applied magnetic field dependencies of the equilibrium magnetic configuration and the magnetic energy barrier when using the simplifying assumption that the self-demagnetizing field is identical in magnitude to the dipole field. At a small thickness asymmetry of 0.2 nm, for example, the magnetic energy barrier is reduced from 68 kT (T=300 K) to 6 kT at the remanent state and a progressive switching behavior changes into a critical behavior, as the simplifying assumption is used. The present results clearly demonstrate the need for an accurate analytical equation for the total energy in predicting the thermal stability of nanostructured synthetic ferrimagnets.