Microwires were created in the former Soviet Union for military purposes. They formed the basis of the camouflage of a model of spy plane used by the Soviet army, but for a long time the scientific community has been studying them for other purposes. A study by the UPV/EHU's Magnetism Group is making progress in furthering understanding of the surface magnetic behaviour of glass-coated microwires and has concluded that they are the major candidates for use as high sensitivity sensors, in high sensitivity sensor, for example.
Microwires have a metal core and a crystal skin, in other words, they have a glass coating. The core of the microwire consists of a ferromagnetic alloy, which varies according to the metals used in the alloy and the final geometry of the wire. "But there is a quality that they all share: they have magnetic properties. It is precisely their magnetic properties and small size that account for the fact that they are so prized," pointed out Alexander Chizhik, a member of the Magnetism group.
