6533b836fe1ef96bd12a0b36
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Coarsening of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Multilayers: The Key Role of Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy
Johannes MeersschautHans J. LauterA. V. PetrenkoD. L. NagyBart DegrooteHartmut SpieringB. CroonenborghsV. Lauter-pasyukV. Lauter-pasyukO. NikonovOlaf LeupoldJohan DekosterMarton MajorL. DeákLászló BottyánRudolf RüfferEdit Szilágyisubject
Materials scienceMagnetoresistanceCondensed matter physicsAnisotropy energyRemanenceSuperlatticeGeneral Physics and AstronomyAntiferromagnetismMagnetocrystalline anisotropySaturation (magnetic)Order of magnitudedescription
The domain structure of an antiferromagnetic superlattice is studied. Synchrotron Mössbauer and polarized neutron reflectometric maps show micrometer-size primary domain formation as the external field decreases from saturation to remanence. A secondary domain state consisting mainly of at least 1 order of magnitude larger domains is created when a small field along the layer magnetizations induces a bulk-spin-flop transition. The domain-size distribution is reproducibly dependent on the magnetic prehistory. The condition for domain coarsening is shown to be the equilibrium of the external field energy with the anisotropy energy.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-03-29 | Physical Review Letters |