We examine the substructures of magnetic domain walls (DWs) in [Pt/(Co/Ni)$_M$/Ir]$_N$ multi-layers using a combination of micromagnetic theory and Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (LTEM). Thermal stability calculations of Q=$pm$1 substructures (2-$pi$ vertical Bloch lines (VBLs) and DW skyrmions) were performed using a geodesic nudged elastic band (GNEB) model, which supports their metastability at room temperature. Experimental variation in strength of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and film thickness reveals conditions under which these substructures are present and enables the formation of a magnetic phase diagram. Reduced thickness is found to favor Q=$pm$1 substructures likely due to the suppression of hybrid DWs. The results from this study provide an important framework for examining 1-D DW substructures in chiral magnetic materials.
We have studied the magnetic properties of multilayers composed of ferromagnetic metal Co and heavy metals with strong spin orbit coupling (Pt and Ir). Multilayers with symmetric (ABA stacking) and asymmetric (ABC stacking) structures are grown to study the effect of broken structural inversion symmetry. We compare the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) energy of symmetric Pt/Co/Pt, Ir/Co/Ir multilayers and asymmetric Pt/Co/Ir, Ir/Co/Pt multilayers. First, the interface contribution to the PMA is studied using the Co layer thickness dependence of the effective PMA energy. Comparison of the interfacial PMA between the Ir/Co/Pt, Pt/Co/Ir asymmetric structures and Pt/Co/Pt, Ir/Co/Ir symmetric structures indicate that the broken structural inversion symmetry induced PMA is small compared to the overall interfacial PMA. Second, we find the magnetic anisotropy field is significantly increased in multilayers when the ferromagnetic layers are antiferromagnetically coupled via interlayer exchange coupling (IEC). Macrospin model calculations can qualitatively account for the relation between the anisotropy field and the IEC. Among the structures studied, IEC is the largest for the asymmetric Ir/Co/Pt multilayers: the exchange coupling field exceeds 3 T and consequently, the anisotropy field approaches 10 T. Third, comparing the asymmetric Ir/Co/Pt and Pt/Co/Ir structures, we find the IEC and, to some extent, the interface PMA are stronger for the former than the latter. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism studies suggest that the proximity induced magnetization in Pt is larger for the Ir/Co/Pt multilayers than the inverted structure, which may partly account for the difference in the magnetic properties. These results show the intricate relation between PMA, IEC and the proximity induced magnetization that can be exploited to design artificial structures with unique magnetic characteristics.
We characterize asymmetric growth of magnetic bubble domains in perpendicularly magnetized Co/Ni multi-layers grown on Pt$_x$Ir$_{1-x}$ seedlayers by application of perpendicular and in-plane magnetic fields. Using a refined model of domain wall creep that incorporates contributions from the anisotropic elastic energy, $varepsilon$, and a chirality-dependent prefactor, $v_0$, we elucidate factors that govern the mobility of Dzyaloshinskii domain walls as a function of seedlayer composition. The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction magnitude is found to decrease monotonically with $x_{Ir}$, which is independently confirmed by Brillouin light scattering (BLS). Moreover, the persistence of significant asymmetry in velocity curves across the full composition range supports previous assertions that a chirality-dependent attempt frequency akin to chiral damping could play a critical role in the observed trends. This work helps resolve fundamental questions about the factors governing Dzyaloshinskii DW creep and demonstrates varying Pt-Ir seedlayer composition as a method to tune DMI.
We present a detailed theoretical investigation on the magnetic properties of small single-layered Fe, Co and Ni clusters deposited on Ir(111), Pt(111) and Au(111). For this a fully relativistic {em ab-initio} scheme based on density functional theory has been used. We analyse the element, size and geometry specific variations of the atomic magnetic moments and their mutual exchange interactions as well as the magnetic anisotropy energy in these systems. Our results show that the atomic spin magnetic moments in the Fe and Co clusters decrease almost linearly with coordination on all three substrates, while the corresponding orbital magnetic moments appear to be much more sensitive to the local atomic environment. The isotropic exchange interaction among the cluster atoms is always very strong for Fe and Co exceeding the values for bulk bcc Fe and hcp Co, whereas the anisotropic Dzyaloshinski-Moriya interaction is in general one or two orders of magnitude smaller when compared to the isotropic one. For the magnetic properties of Ni clusters the magnetic properties can show quite a different behaviour and we find in this case a strong tendency towards noncollinear magnetism.
We present the Co-Gd composition dependence of the spin-Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) and anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) for ferrimagnetic Co100-xGdx / Pt bilayers. With Gd concentration x, its magnetic moment increasingly competes with the Co moment in the net magnetization. We find a nearly compensated ferrimagnetic state at x = 24. The AMR changes sign from positive to negative with increasing x, vanishing near the magnetization compensation. On the other hand, the SMR does not vary significantly even where the AMR vanishes. These experimental results indicate that very different scattering mechanisms are responsible for AMR and SMR. We discuss a possible origin for the alloy composition dependence.
We experimentally investigate the current-induced magnetization reversal in Pt/[Co/Ni]$_3$/Al multilayers combining the anomalous Hall effect and magneto-optical Kerr effect techniques in crossbar geometry. The magnetization reversal occurs through nucleation and propagation of a domain of opposite polarity for a current density of the order of 0.3 TA/m$^2$. In these experiments we demonstrate a full control of each stage: i)the {O}rsted field controls the domain nucleation and ii) domain-wall propagation occurs by spin torque from the Pt spin Hall effect. This scenario requires an in-plane magnetic field to tune the domain wall center orientation along the current for efficient domain wall propagation. Indeed, as nucleated, domain walls are chiral and Neel like due to the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.