Direct imaging of antiferromagnetic domains in Mn 2 Au manipulated by high magnetic fields

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.97.134429

Authors: A. A. Sapozhnik (Institut für Physik, JGU Mainz; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz) , M. Filianina (Institut für Physik, JGU Mainz; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz) , S. Yu. Bodnar (Institut für Physik, JGU Mainz) , A. Lamirand (Diamond Light Source) , M.-a. Mawass (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie) , Y. Skourski (Hochfeld-Magnetlabor Dresden (HLD-EMFL)) , H.-j. Elmers (Institut für Physik, JGU Mainz; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz) , H. Zabel (Institut für Physik, JGU Mainz; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz) , M. Klaui (Institut für Physik, JGU Mainz; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz) , M. Jourdan (Institut für Physik, JGU Mainz; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Physical Review B , VOL 97 , PAGES 134429

State: Published (Approved)
Published: April 2018
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 17120

Abstract: In the field of antiferromagnetic (AFM) spintronics, information about the Néel vector, AFM domain sizes, and spin-flop fields is a prerequisite for device applications but is not available easily.We have investigated AFM domains and spin-flop-induced changes of domain patterns in Mn2Au(001) epitaxial thin films by x-ray magnetic linear dichroism photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) using magnetic fields up to 70 T. As-prepared Mn2Au films exhibit AFM domains with an average size of 1μm. Application of a 30 T field, exceeding the spin-flop field, along a magnetocrystalline easy axis dramatically increases the AFM domain size with Néel vectors perpendicular to the applied field direction. The width of Néel-type domain walls (DW) is below the spatial resolution of the PEEM and therefore can only be estimated from an analysis of the DW profile to be smaller than 80 nm. Furthermore, using the values for the DW width and the spin-flop field, we evaluate an in-plane anisotropy constant ranging between 1 and 17 eV/f.u..

Journal Keywords: AFM domains; spin flop; Mn2Au

Subject Areas: Physics, Materials, Technique Development


Instruments: I06-Nanoscience

Other Facilities: BESSY II, HZB, Berlin, Germany