Domain wall transformations and hopping in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3nanostructures imaged with high resolution x-ray magnetic microscopy

We investigate the effect of electric current pulse injection on domain walls in La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO(3) (LSMO) half-ring nanostructures by high resolution x-ray magnetic microscopy at room temperature. Due to the easily accessible Curie temperature of LSMO, we can employ reasonable current densities to induce the Joule heating necessary to observe effects such as hopping of the domain walls between different pinning sites and nucleation/annihilation events. Such effects are the dominant features close to the Curie temperature, while spin torque is found to play a small role close to room temperature. We are also able to observe thermally activated domain wall transformations and we find that,…

Structural sensitivity of the spin Hall magnetoresistance in antiferromagnetic thin films

A. Ross and M.K. acknowledge support from the Graduate School of Excellence Materials Science in Mainz (Grant No.DFG/GSC 266). This work was supported by the Max Planck Graduate Center with the Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz (MPGC). A. Ross, R.L., and M.K. acknowledge support from the DFG Projects No. 423441604 and No. 403502522. R.L. acknowledges the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement FAST No. 752195. All authors from Mainz also acknowledge support from both MaHoJeRo (DAAD Spintronics network, Project No. 57334897), SPIN+X (DFG SFB TRR 173, Project No. A01) and KAUST (Grant No. OSR-2019-CRG8-4048.2). D.A.G.…

Identification of Néel vector orientation in antiferromagnetic domains switched by currents in NiO/Pt thin films

Understanding the electrical manipulation of antiferromagnetic order is a crucial aspect to enable the design of antiferromagnetic devices working at THz frequency. Focusing on collinear insulating antiferromagnetic NiO/Pt thin films as a materials platform, we identify the crystallographic orientation of the domains that can be switched by currents and quantify the N\'eel vector direction changes. We demonstrate electrical switching between different T-domains by current pulses, finding that the N\'eel vector orientation in these domains is along $[\pm5\ \pm5\ 19]$, different compared to the bulk $$ directions. The final state of the N\'eel vector $\textbf{n}$ switching after current pulse…

Mechanism of Néel Order Switching in Antiferromagnetic Thin Films Revealed by Magnetotransport and Direct Imaging.

We probe the current-induced magnetic switching of insulating antiferromagnet/heavy metals systems, by electrical spin Hall magnetoresistance measurements and direct imaging, identifying a reversal occurring by domain wall (DW) motion. We observe switching of more than one third of the antiferromagnetic domains by the application of current pulses. Our data reveal two different magnetic switching mechanisms leading together to an efficient switching, namely the spin-current induced effective magnetic anisotropy variation and the action of the spin torque on the DWs.

Identification of Néel Vector Orientation in Antiferromagnetic Domains Switched by Currents in NiO/Pt Thin Films

Understanding the electrical manipulation of the antiferromagnetic order is a crucial aspect to enable the design of antiferromagnetic devices working at THz frequencies. Focusing on collinear insulating antiferromagnetic $\mathrm{Ni}\mathrm{O}/\mathrm{Pt}$ thin films as a materials platform, we identify the crystallographic orientation of the domains that can be switched by currents and quantify the N\'eel-vector direction changes. We demonstrate electrical switching between different T domains by current pulses, finding that the N\'eel-vector orientation in these domains is along [$\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5$ $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5$ 19], different compared to the bulk $⟨112⟩$ d…

Magnetic Anisotropy Engineering in Thin Film Ni Nanostructures by Magnetoelastic Coupling

Strain-induced Shape Anisotropy in Antiferromagnetic Structures

We demonstrate how shape dependent strain can be used to control antiferromagnetic order in NiO Pt thin films. For rectangular elements patterned along the easy and hard magnetocrystalline anisotropy axes of our film, we observe different domain structures and we identify magnetoelastic interactions that are distinct for different domain configurations. We reproduce the experimental observations by modeling the magnetoelastic interactions, considering spontaneous strain induced by the domain configuration, as well as elastic strain due to the substrate and the shape of the patterns. This allows us to demonstrate and explain how the variation of the aspect ratio of rectangular elements can b…

ELECTRICAL-FIELD CONTROL OF MAGNETISM MEDIATED BY STRAIN IN Ni NANOSTRUCTURES FABRICATED ON PRE-POLED PMN–PT (011)

We investigate the effects of piezoelectric-generated strain on the magnetization configuration of Ni nanostructures fabricated on pre-poled piezoelectric (011) [ Pb ( Mg 0.33 Nb 0.66) O 3]0.68–[ PbTiO 3]0.32 (PMN–PT) by high resolution X-ray microscopy. We observe a strong uniaxial anisotropy in the Ni nanostructures, due to the relaxation of the substrate following the deposition of the Ni . The anisotropy can be modified by the application of an electric field to the piezoelectric substrate (thus generating a piezoelectric strain in the system) through the magneto-elastic effect. By applying an electric field to the PMN–PT, the magnetization configuration in nanostructured Ni squares an…

Data for the article "Strain-induced shape anisotropy in antiferromagnetic structures"

Data for the article "Strain-induced shape anisotropy in antiferromagnetic structures" URL: https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.094430 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.094430