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Register a new userNon-volatile voltage control of magnetization and magnetic domain walls in magnetostrictive epitaxial thin films
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We demonstrate reproducible voltage induced non-volatile switching of the magnetization in an epitaxial thin Fe81Ga19 film. Switching is induced at room temperature and without the aid of an external magnetic field. This is achieved by the modification of the magnetic anisotropy by mechanical strain induced by a piezoelectric transducer attached to the layer. Epitaxial Fe81Ga19 is shown to possess the favourable combination of cubic magnetic anisotropy and large magnetostriction necessary to achieve this functionality with experimentally accessible levels of strain. The switching of the magnetization proceeds by the motion of magnetic domain walls, also controlled by the voltage induced strain.
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Magnetic domain walls in thin films can be well analyzed using polarized neutron reflectometry. Well defined streaks in the off-specular spin-flip scattering maps are explained by neutron refraction at perpendicular N{e}el walls. The position of the streaks depends only on the magnetic induction within the domains, whereas the intensity of the off-specular magnetic scattering depends on the spin-flip probability at the domain walls and on the average size of the magnetic domains. This effect is fundamentally different and has to be clearly distinguished from diffuse scattering originating from the size distribution of magnetic domains. Polarized neutron reflectivity experiments were carried out using a $^3$He gas spin-filter with a analyzing power as high as 96% and a neutron transmission of approx 35%. Furthermore, the off-specular magnetic scattering was enhanced by using neutron resonance and neutron standing wave techniques.
Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) and bismuth (Bi) substituted YIG (Bi0.1Y2.9Fe5O12, BYG) films are grown in-situ on single crystalline Gadolinium Gallium Garnet (GGG) substrates [with (100) and (111) orientations] using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. As the orientation of the Bi-YIG film changes from (100) to (111), the lattice constant is enhanced from 12.384 {AA} to 12.401 {AA} due to orientation dependent distribution of Bi3+ ions at dodecahedral sites in the lattice cell. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show smooth film surfaces with roughness 0.308 nm in Bi-YIG (111). The change in substrate orientation leads to the modification of Gilbert damping which, in turn, gives rise to the enhancement of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) line width. The best values of Gilbert damping are found to be (0.54)*10-4, for YIG (100) and (6.27)*10-4, for Bi-YIG (111) oriented films. Angle variation measurements of the Hr are also performed, that shows a four-fold symmetry for the resonance field in the (100) grown film. In addition, the value of effective magnetization (4{pi}Meff) and extrinsic linewidth ({Delta}H0) are observed to be dependent on substrate orientation. Hence PLD growth can assist single-crystalline YIG and BYG films with a perfect interface that can be used for spintronics and related device applications.
We investigated head-to-head domain walls in nanostrips of epitaxial $mathrm{Fe}_4mathrm{N}(001)$ thin films, displaying a fourfold magnetic anisotropy. Magnetic force microscopy and micromagnetic simulations show that the domain walls have specific properties, compared to soft magnetic materials. In particular, strips aligned along a hard axis of magnetization are wrapped by partial flux-closure concertina domains below a critical width, while progressively transforming to zigzag walls for wider strips. Transverse walls are favored upon initial application of a magnetic field transverse to the strip, while transformation to a vortex walls is favored upon motion under a longitudinal magnetic field. In all cases the magnetization texture of such fourfold anisotropy domain walls exhibits narrow micro-domain walls, which may give rise to peculiar spin-transfer features.
Local conduction at domains and domains walls is investigated in BiFeO3 thin films containing mostly 71o domain walls. Measurements at room temperature reveal conduction through 71o domain walls. Conduction through domains could also be observed at high enough temperatures. It is found that, despite the lower conductivity of the domains, both are governed by the same mechanisms: in the low voltage regime electrons trapped at defect states are temperature-activated but the current is limited by the ferroelectric surface charges; in the large voltage regime, Schottky emission takes place and the role of oxygen vacancies is that of selectively increasing the Fermi energy at the walls and locally reducing the Schottky barrier. This understanding provides the key to engineering conduction paths in oxides.
Antiferromagnetic materials are of great interest for spintronics. Here we present a comprehensive study of the growth, structural characterization, and resulting magnetic properties of thin films of the non-collinear antiferromagnet Mn$_{3}$Ir. Using epitaxial engineering on MgO (001) and Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ (0001) single crystal substrates, we control the growth of cubic ${gamma}$-Mn$_{3}$Ir in both (001) and (111) crystal orientations, and discuss the optimization of growth conditions to achieve high-quality crystal structures with low surface roughness. Exchange bias is studied in bilayers, with exchange bias fields as large as -29 mT (equivalent to a unidirectional anisotropy constant of 11.5 nJ cm$^{-2}$) measured in Mn$_{3}$Ir (111) / permalloy heterostructures at room temperature. In addition, a distinct dependence of blocking temperature on in-plane crystallographic direction in Mn$_{3}$Ir (001) / Py bilayers is observed. These findings are discussed in the context of chiral antiferromagnetic domain structures, and will inform progress towards topological antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.
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