Search results for "Step edges"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Stabilization of Polar Step Edges on Calcite (10.4) by the Adsorption of Congo Red
2015
In this work, we present the stabilization of polar step edges along the [010] direction of calcite (10.4) by the presence of a water-soluble organic molecule, namely Congo Red. While characteristic etch pits are observed on the surface in the absence of the additive, no etch pits can be found in the presence of the additive. Using atomic force microscopy, we can directly follow the restructuring of the surface. Upon addition of Congo Red, the charge-neutral step edges confining the characteristic etch pits vanish, while polar step edges along the [010] direction appear on the surface, which are entirely decorated by well-ordered molecular islands of the additive. After the restructuring ha…
Step-Edge Induced Anisotropic Domain-Wall Propagation
1999
We report the observation of anisotropic domain-wall propagation in ultrathin magnetic films with perpendicular anisotropy. A controlled density of step edges was introduced which allowed us to quantify its influence on the domain-wall pinning. For a sawtooth arrangement of the step edges the corresponding wall movement resulted in triangular shaped domains. All aspects of this anisotropic domain-wall evolution could be reproduced by a simulation based on a modified Ginzburg-Landau-type soft-spin model.