0000000000147458
AUTHOR
A. Krasyuk
Magnetization dynamics in polycrystalline Permalloy and epitaxial Co platelets observed by time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy
We studied the dynamic magnetization response in rectangular polycrystalline Permalloy and also epitaxial Co structures (lateral sizes comprised tens of microns at a thickness of tens of nanometers) during the action of a magnetic field pulse, using time-resolved X-ray photoemission electron microscopy with a time resolution of 10 ps. In the case of Permalloy platelets the restoring torque that is necessary for the stroboscopic image acquisition is provided by the Landau flux closure structure representing a minimum of the free energy. We investigated the dynamic response of 90° Neel domain walls. The main results are: the maximum velocity of the domain wall is 1.5 × 104 m/s, the intrinsic …
Magnetization dynamics in microscopic spin-valve elements: Shortcomings of the macrospin picture
We have studied ultrafast magnetodynamics in micropatterned spin-valve structures using time-resolved x-ray photoemission electron microscopy combined with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. Exciting the system with ultrafast field pulses of $250\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ps}$ width, we find the dynamic response of the free layer to fall into two distinctly different contributions. On the one hand, it exhibits localized spin wave modes that strongly depend on the shape of the micropattern. A field pulse applied perpendicular to the exchange bias field along the diagonal of a square pattern leads to the excitation of a standing spin wave mode with two nodes along the field direction.…
Quantitative measurements of magnetic stray field dynamics of Permalloy particles in a photoemission electron microscopy
By example of a Permalloy particle (40 × 40 μm(2) size, 30 nm thickness) we demonstrate a procedure to quantitatively investigate the dynamics of magnetic stray fields during ultrafast magnetization reversal. The measurements have been performed in a time-resolving photoemission electron microscope using the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. In the particle under investigation, we have observed a flux-closure-dominated magnetic ground structure, minimizing the magnetic stray field outside the sample. A fast magnetic field pulse introduced changes in the micromagnetic structure accompanied with an incomplete flux closure. As a result, stray fields arise along the edges of domains, which cau…
Self-Trapping of Magnetic Oscillation Modes in Landau Flux-Closure Structures
We investigated the magnetodynamics in rectangular Permalloy platelets by means of time-resolved x-ray photoemission microscopy. 10 nm thick platelets of size 16 x 32 microm were excited by an oscillatory field along the short side of the sample with a fundamental frequency of 500 MHz and considerable contributions of higher harmonics. Under the influence of the oscillatory field, the Néel wall in the initial classical Landau pattern shifts away from the center, corresponding to an induced magnetic moment perpendicular to the exciting field. This phenomenon is explained by a self-trapping effect of the dominating spin-wave mode when the system is excited just below the resonance frequency. …
Spatially resolved observation of dynamics in electrical and magnetic field distributions by means of a delayline detector and PEEM
Abstract Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) was exploited to observe the dynamics in local field distributions on microstrip-line devices with a best time resolution of 133 ps. A delayline detector system served as imaging unit capable of a time resolving data acquisition and processing. The setup can be operated at the resolution limit of the PEEM of about 20 nm while a continuously illuminating UV-lamp excites the photoelectrons in threshold photoemission. A pulsed photon source is not needed to obtain time resolved images, the time reference of the data acquisition was taken by a periodic signal (clock, here typ. 100 MHz) in phase with the pulse pattern applied to the microstrip-li…
Transient spatio-temporal domain patterns in permalloy microstructures induced by fast magnetic field pulses
The response of multidomain flux-closure structures (Landau states) in micrometer-scale magnetic thin-film elements upon fast magnetic field pulses leads to the excitation of magnetic eigenmodes and to short-lived domain patterns that do not occur in quasi-static remagnetisation. Such transient spatio-temporal patterns and particular detail features are discussed. Examples are presented for permalloy platelets of various shapes and sizes. Dynamic series of domain patterns with variable delay between field pulse and photon pulse (synchrotron radiation) have been taken using stroboscopic XMCD-PEEM. Precessional remagnetisation starts at the domain boundaries. The damped precessional motion pr…
Investigating spintronics thin film systems with synchrotron radiation
Abstract Spintronics is a research field involving a wide variety of different magnetic materials. Synchrotron radiation in the VUV and soft X-ray regime is ideally suited to investigate the relationships between magnetic properties and electronic structure of spintronics thin film stacks. Complex layered structures and nanomagnets are the main building blocks for current and future spintronics applications. In this contribution we describe the study of spintronics model systems with respect to the static and dynamic behavior with an emphasis on interfaces.
Quantitative spin polarization analysis in photoelectron emission microscopy with an imaging spin filter.
Abstract Using a photoelectron emission microscope (PEEM), we demonstrate spin-resolved electron spectroscopic imaging of ultrathin magnetic Co films grown on Cu(100). The spin-filter, based on the spin-dependent reflection of low energy electrons from a W(100) crystal, is attached to an aberration corrected electrostatic energy analyzer coupled to an electrostatic PEEM column. We present a method for the quantitative measurement of the electron spin polarization at 4×10 3 points of the PEEM image, simultaneously. This approach uses the subsequent acquisition of two images with different scattering energies of the electrons at the W(100) target to directly derive the spin polarization witho…
Imaging spin filter for electrons based on specular reflection from iridium (001)
Abstract As Stern–Gerlach type spin filters do not work with electrons, spin analysis of electron beams is accomplished by spin-dependent scattering processes based on spin–orbit or exchange interaction. Existing polarimeters are single-channel devices characterized by an inherently low figure of merit (FoM) of typically 10 −4 –10 −3 . This single-channel approach is not compatible with parallel imaging microscopes and also not with modern electron spectrometers that acquire a certain energy and angular interval simultaneously. We present a novel type of polarimeter that can transport a full image by making use of k -parallel conservation in low-energy electron diffraction. We studied specul…
Time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy of magnetic field and magnetisation changes
Owing to its parallel image acquisition, photoemission electron microscopy is well suited for real-time observation of fast processes on surfaces. Pulsed excitation sources like synchrotron radiation or lasers, fast electric pulsers for the study of magnetic switching, and/or time-resolved detection can be utilised. A standard approach also being used in light optical imaging is stroboscopic illumination of a periodic (or quasi-periodic) process. Using this technique, the time dependence of the magnetic field in a pulsed microstrip line has been imaged in real time exploiting Lorentz-type contrast. Similarly, the corresponding field-induced changes in the magnetisation of cobalt microstruct…
Magnetization changes visualized using photoemission electron microscopy
Abstract Photoemission electron microscopy was used to visualize the motion of magnetic domains on a sub-nanosecond timescale. The technique exploits the imaging of magnetic domains using soft X-ray circular dichroism, with the special feature that the instrument utilizes a fast image acquisition system with intrinsic 125 ps time resolution. The overall time resolution used is about 500 ps. Different domains and domain movements have been observed in lithographically-produced Permalloy structures on a copper microstrip-line. A current pulse of I=0.5 A with rise times of about 300 ps switched the Permalloy islands from a Landau-Lifshitz type domain configuration into metastable s-state domai…
Time-resolved X-ray photoemission electron microscopy: imaging magnetodynamics on the 100 ps scale and below
Abstract We present recent results of time-resolved X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (TR-XPEEM) investigations on magnetic systems. Our studies of microstructured permalloy particles employ a magnetic pump XPEEM probe approach. The stroboscopic experiments feature a time resolution of Δ τ ≤ 130 ps and yield magnetic domain images with a surprising richness of details. We observe a strong influence of incoherent magnetization rotation processes, which lead to complicated transient domain structures with a blocked relaxation behavior.
Stroboscopic XMCD–PEEM imaging of standing and propagating spinwave modes in permalloy thin-film structures
Abstract Using synchrotron-based stroboscopic photoemission electron microscopy with X-ray circular dichroism as contrast method, we have investigated the high-frequency response of permalloy thin-film structures. Standing precessional modes have been studied in rectangular elements (16 × 32 μm 2 , 10 nm thick) with a high time resolution of about 15 ps in the low- α mode of BESSY. With increasing amplitude of the applied magnetic AC field the particle is driven from an initial symmetric Landau flux-closure state into an asymmetric state and finally into a single-domain state magnetized perpendicular to the applied field H AC . The electromagnetic microwave field thus can induces a net magn…
Sub-nanosecond resolution x-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy of magnetization processes in a permalloy ring
Fast magnetization processes in a microstructured permalloy ring with 80 µm o.d. and 30 nm thickness have been observed by photoemission electron microscopy exploiting x-ray magnetic circular dichroism as the magnetic contrast mechanism. As a high speed probe we employed synchrotron radiation pulses at the ESRF (Grenoble) operated in 16-bunch mode, yielding photon pulses of 105 ps FWHM with a period of 176 ns. Fast magnetic field pulses have been generated by means of current pulses through coplanar waveguides with the magnetic structure being lithographically prepared on their surface. A stroboscopic pump–probe set-up with a variable time delay between the field pulse and photon pulse allo…
Accessing fast magnetization dynamics by XPEEM: Status and perspectives
Abstract Being already well established as a versatile technique for high-resolution static magnetic domain imaging, X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM) is now also capturing the field of time-resolved magnetic investigations. Using appropriate operation modes at synchrotron radiation sources, a time resolution of 10 ps and less can be achieved in recent magnetodynamics studies, giving access even to phenomena involving precessional processes.
Image enhancement in photoemission electron microscopy by means of imaging time-of-flight analysis
Abstract Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) is widely used in combination with synchrotron sources as a powerful tool to observe chemical and magnetic properties of metal and semiconductor surfaces. Presently, the resolution limit of these instruments using soft-X-ray excitation is limited to about 50 nm, because of the chromatic aberation of the electron optics used. Various sophisticated approaches have thus been reported for enhancing the spatial resolution in photoemission electron microscopy. This work demonstrates the use of a simple imaging energy filter based on electron time-of-flight (ToF) selection. The spatial resolution could be improved dramatically, even though the inst…