Figure 3. Schemes illustrating the possible effect of the AC field on the spatial reorientation of the nanorods, in comparison with the case of chains of spherical particles.

Thus (A and B) correspond to the case when both systems are distributed at random (see that the M(H) hysteresis loops are angle-independent); (C and D) illustrate the reorientation of both chains and nanorods along the field, while (E) corresponds to the perpendicular reorientation of the nanorods. Also the effect of AC-treatment duration is illustrated in this case, with a progressive narrowing of the M(H) loops in the parallel direction with larger time. The cones stand for the collinearity-characterization angle Ω that it is defined with respect to the long axis of the nanorods in either case (parallel and orthogonal).