  We report on the magnetic properties and the crystallographic structure of
the cobalt nanowire arrays as a function of their nanoscale dimensions. X-ray
diffraction measurements show the appearance of an in-plane HCP-Co phase for
nanowires with 50 nm diameter, suggesting a partial reorientation of the
magnetocrystalline anisotropy axis along the membrane plane with increasing
pore diameter. No significant changes in the magnetic behavior of the nanowire
system are observed with decreasing temperature, indicating that the effective
magnetoelastic anisotropy does not play a dominant role in the remagnetization
processes of individual nanowires. An enhancement of the total magnetic
anisotropy is found at room temperature with a decreasing nanowire
diameter-to-length ratio (d/L), a result that is quantitatively analyzed on the
basis of a simplified shape anisotropy model.
