Magnetization switching behavior with competing anisotropies in epitaxial Co3FeN/MnN exchange-coupled bilayers

Magnetization reversal of the domain structure in the anti-perovskite nitride Co3FeN investigated by high-resolution X-ray microscopy

We performed X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) photoemission electron microscopy imaging to reveal the magnetic domain structure of anti-perovskite nitride Co3FeN exhibiting a negative spin polarization. In square and disc patterns, we systematically and quantitatively determined the statistics of the stable states as a function of geometry. By direct imaging during the application of a magnetic field, we revealed the magnetic reversal process in a spatially resolved manner. We compared the hysteresis on the continuous area and the square patterns from the magnetic field-dependent XMCD ratio, which can be explained as resulting from the effect of the shape anisotropy, present in nano…