Role of substrate clamping on anisotropy and domain structure in the canted antiferromagnet α-Fe2 O3

Wittmann A, Gomonay O, Litzius K, Kaczmarek A, Kossak AE, Wolf D, Lubk A, Johnson TN, Tremsina EA, Churikova A, Buettner F, Wintz S, Mawass MA, Weigand M, Kronast F, Scipioni L, Shepard A, Newhouse-Illige T, Greer JA, Schuetz G, Birge NO, Beach GSD (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Physical Review B American Physical Society

Book Volume: 106

Article Number: 224419

Journal Issue: 22

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.224419

Abstract

Antiferromagnets have recently been propelled to the forefront of spintronics by their high potential for revolutionizing memory technologies. For this, understanding the formation and driving mechanisms of the domain structure is paramount. In this work, we investigate the domain structure in a thin-film canted antiferromagnet α-Fe2O3. We find that the internal destressing fields driving the formation of domains do not follow the crystal symmetry of α-Fe2O3, but fluctuate due to substrate clamping. This leads to an overall isotropic distribution of the Néel order with locally varying effective anisotropy in antiferromagnetic thin films. Furthermore, we show that the weak ferromagnetic nature of α-Fe2O3 leads to a qualitatively different dependence on the magnetic field compared to collinear antiferromagnets such as NiO. The insights gained from our work serve as a foundation for further studies of electrical and optical manipulation of the domain structure of antiferromagnetic thin films.

Involved external institutions

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) US United States (USA) (US) Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU) DE Germany (DE) Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden e.V. (IFW) / Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden DE Germany (DE) Michigan State University US United States (USA) (US) Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) DE Germany (DE) Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) / Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme DE Germany (DE) PVD Products US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Wittmann, A., Gomonay, O., Litzius, K., Kaczmarek, A., Kossak, A.E., Wolf, D.,... Beach, G.S.D. (2022). Role of substrate clamping on anisotropy and domain structure in the canted antiferromagnet α-Fe2 O3. Physical Review B, 106(22). https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.224419

MLA:

Wittmann, Angela, et al. "Role of substrate clamping on anisotropy and domain structure in the canted antiferromagnet α-Fe2 O3." Physical Review B 106.22 (2022).

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