Topology and properties of the 0-degree domain wall in a transverse magnetic field

The conditions of formation, the structure, and the stability of 0-degree domain walls with noncircular trajectories of the magnetization vector in cubic ferromagnets with induced uniaxial anisotropy along the [011] direction have been investigated. It has been found that magnetic inhomogeneities with such topology can appear only in an external magnetic field perpendicular to the domain wall plane. It has been shown that the Euler-Lagrange equations in the low-field limit can be reduced to second-order linear differential equations, whose solutions describe the structure of the above inhomogeneities, while the eigenvalues of the corresponding differential operators specify their stability conditions.     

Magnetization of the ferromagnetic-superconductor structures

The magnetization of a structure consisting of a thin superconducting film lying on a thin ferromagnetic substrate with uniaxial anisotropy is considered. It is shown that if a ferromagnet is in a multidomain state, then due to the presence of a superconducting film, the period of its domain structures decreases, which is caused by the increase of the magnetostatic energy of the system owing to Meissner currents. In a certain range of the constant of uniaxial anisotropy, under the action of a superconducting film, a domain structure may transform from a strip structure to the structure with closure domains. It is found that due to the nonuniform magnetic field of a multidomain ferromagnet, Abrikosov vortices may exist in a thin film only at certain parameters of the magnetic field.     

Kinetics of magnetization reversal in a heterophase nanomagnet with spatially modulated anisotropy

Magnetization reversal modes in a thin-film NiFeCuMo ferromagnet (FM) with periodically varying in-plane anisotropy are studied by the magneto-optical indicator film (MOIF) technique. The uni-directional anisotropy in FM regions exchange-coupled to a FeMn antiferromagnet (AFM) film in the form of square mesh stripes is alternated by the uniaxial anisotropy in the FM regions inside this mesh. It is shown that the boundaries formed along the edges of these stripes, which separate FM regions with different anisotropy, crucially influence the kinetics of domain-structure transformation in both types of FM regions. It is established that the lateral exchange anisotropy in the ferromagnet, which is determined by the stabilization of the spin distribution in the FM layer along the FM-(FM/AFM) interface, leads to the asymmetry of the magnetization reversal in FM regions bordered with an FM/AFM structure. Anisotropy of the mobility of 180-degree “charged” and “uncharged” domain walls situated, respectively, perpendicular and parallel to the unidirectional anisotropy axis is revealed. The difference observed between the mobilities of charged and uncharged domain walls is attributed to the difference in the spin distribution in these walls with respect to the unidirectional anisotropy axis and is a key factor for the difference between the magnetization reversal kinetics in horizontal and vertical exchange-biased FM stripes. Drastic differences are revealed in the asymmetry of magnetization reversal processes in mutually perpendicular narrow stripes of FM/AFM structures. Possible mechanisms of magnetization reversal in low-dimensional FM-(FM/AFM) heterostructures are discussed with regard to the effect of domain walls localized on the edges of AFM layers.     

Specific Features in the Spectrum of Nonlinear Magnetoelastic Waves Propagating in a (111) Plate with Combined Anisotropy

Nonlinear magnetoelastic waves with stationary profiles propagating in a cubic ferromagnetic with [111] uniaxial induced anisotropy are investigated theoretically. It is demonstrated that a new type of nonlinear waves engendered by the resonant motion of the 60-degree domain wall propagates along the [111] axis without magnetization escape from the plane of spin rotation. Some other cases of nonlinear magnetoelastic wave propagation in the examined magnetic are also studied.     

Influence of the surface morphology of single-crystal Si(111) substrates on the magnetic properties of epitaxial cobalt films

The epitaxial films Co(111)/Cu(111)-R30°/Si(111) have been grown on the atomically smooth and vicinal Si(111) surfaces. The roughnesses of the substrate and the cobalt film have been determined using scanning tunneling microscopy. The dependence of the coercive force has been investigated as a function of the azimuthal angle. The dependence of the magnetic anisotropy and the coercive force on the surface roughness has been determined. It has been shown that, in the epitaxial cobalt films deposited on the atomically smooth silicon surfaces, crystalline anisotropy of the 〈110〉 type leads to the isotropy of the magnetization reversal processes. The step-induced uniaxial anisotropy has been observed upon deposition on the vicinal surfaces. The films deposited on the atomically smooth surfaces have a complex domain structure.     

晶格失配应力对单晶(BiTm)_3(GaFe)_5O_(12)膜磁畴结构的影响

利用液相外延工艺在钆镓石榴石衬底上制得了单晶(BiTm)_3(GaFe)_5O_(12)膜,研究了晶格失配应力对其磁畴结构的影响.研究发现,生长速率越快,膜的晶格常数越大;晶格失配应力可以在一定范围内调整膜的垂直各向异性;随着晶格失配应力由较大张应力逐渐转变为较大压应力,磁畴形状先由磁泡畴转变成迷宫畴,然后转变为过渡态部分弯曲的条状畴,最终转变为整齐排列的条状畴;失配应力同时对畴宽也有影响,膜受到的失配应力越大,畴宽越大.这一实验研究对基于控制晶格失配应力来调控单晶膜的各向异性和磁畴结构有指导意义.     

Evolution of the domain structure of thin magnetic films during ideal magnetization

Thin uniaxial ferromagnetic films with the easy-magnetization axis oriented perpendicularly to the film plane are considered. The process of ideal magnetization of films with a twisted unipolar periodic domain structure is investigated by computer simulation. It is shown that during film magnetization the degree of twistedness of domain walls decreases and the magnetic structure becomes domainless.     

The spontaneous formation of a vortex structure in a type II superconductor-ferromagnet bilayer

The conditions for the formation of a vortex structure in a thin superconducting film under the action of a stray field of stripe domain structure of a uniaxial ferromagnet are determined. The critical magnetization of the magnetic material is calculated, above which the mixed state of the superconductor becomes energetically favored over the Meissner phase. It is shown that the critical magnetization decreases monotonically with decreasing thickness of the superconducting film and is of the order of ten gauss in typical actual situations. The critical-current anisotropy in a superconducting film with an induced vortex structure is discussed qualitatively.     

Three-dimensional simulation of nonlinear dynamics of domain walls in films with perpendicular anisotropy

A three-dimensional computer simulation of static magnetization configurations and dynamic processes occurring in a domain wall moving in a uniaxial magnetic film with perpendicular anisotropy has been performed based on the numerical solution of Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equations. The calculated static states correspond to a domain wall containing Bloch lines with a surface magnetization distribution that depends on the thickness of the film. It has been shown that these structures can be characterized by particular values of the homotopy index. It has been found that the vortex and antivortex structures existing in the bulk of the film form vortex filaments. A method has been proposed for visualization of the joint motion of vortex filaments and Bloch points, which is based on the numerical calculation of the homotopy index and the winding number.     

Nonlinear dynamics of vortex-like asymmetric domain walls in magnetic triaxial films

On the basis of numerical solution of the Landau-Lifshitz equation, we investigated the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of 90-degree and 180-degree asymmetric vortex-like domain walls in single-crystal films with cubic symmetry. Films with surfaces of (100) and (110) types are considered. The nonlinear dynamic rearrangement of the internal structure of a wall was investigated. The surface uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is shown to strongly influence the very process of dynamic rearrangement in the internal structure of a wall even up to the complete suppression of the whole process.     

Magnetic Phases and Inhomogeneous Micromagnetic Structures in a Ferrite Garnet Film with Orientation (210)

Possible magnetic states of a cubic ferromagnet with a uniaxial anisotropy induced along the [210] direction are theoretically investigated. It is demonstrated that the orientation phase diagram of a magnet is nontrivial and admits the existence of three types of magnetic phases that differ in transformational properties and the presence of quintuple points, isostructural phase transitions, etc. It is found that magnetic inhomogeneities, regardless of the values of parameters of the matter, have a common structure: they correspond to 180-degree domain boundaries with a noncircular trajectory of the magnetization vector. The features of homogeneous and inhomogeneous magnetic states, found in these materials, make it possible to explain the manifestation of a flexomagnetoelectric effect in them.     

Influence of induced uniaxial anisotropy on the domain structure and phase transitions of yttrium-iron garnet films

The effect of induced uniaxial anisotropy on the properties and parameters of the domain structure and phase transitions in yttrium-iron garnet (YIG) films is investigated. Based on the measurements and the derived formulas we determine the difference between the magnetization and the uniaxial anisotropy field for each of the films. We have also measured the parameters of the domain structures and phase transitions of the films for the magnetization parallel and perpendicular to the projections of the [111] crystallographic axes onto the plane of the film. We find that films of pure YIG films grown in (111) are characterized by the existence of some critical value of the uniaxial anisotropy field. It is found that for films in which the uniaxial anisotropy field is larger than this critical value and films in which it is less than this critical value, such parameters of the domain structures as the ratio of the width of the domains to the film thickness, the orientation of the magnetization of the domains, the orientation of the domain boundaries, and the magnitudes of the phase transition fields differ substantially. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 2034–2041 (November 1999)     

Influence of the film thickness and additional elements (Al,O, and N) on the properties of FeCo film structures

The magnetic properties and domain structure of FeCoAlON thin films with thicknesses varying from 55 to 550 nm have been studied, and conditions favoring preparation of FeCoAlON films with uniaxial anisotropy in the direction normal to the film plane, which is required for designing “perpendicular” super-high-density information recording, have been established. In FeCoAlON films with a thickness up to 300 nm, the domain structure consists of cross-linked domain walls, because strong demagnetizing field suppresses formation of stripe domains. After the film thickness has reached 320 nm, cross-linked domain walls transform into stripe domains, with uniaxial anisotropy in the film plane disappearing, to become replaced by uniaxial anisotropy in the direction normal to the film plane, which can be assigned to magnetoelastic stresses induced by nitrogen atoms filling up interstitial space in the (110) plane. A further increase in the film thickness (up to 550 nm) leads to a rotational anisotropy due to the increase of nitrogen concentration in interstitials and the increase of magnetoelastic stresses.     

Singularity in high-frequency susceptibility of thin magnetic films with uniaxial anisotropy

A sharp peak of magnetic susceptibility has been observed in the ferromagnetic resonance spectra of uniaxial magnetic films placed in a planar field directed orthogonal to the easy magnetization axis, along which a pumping high-frequency magnetic field has been oriented. The peak width is considerably narrower than the line width of the uniform ferromagnetic resonance, and its position in a field equal to the film anisotropy field does not depend on the pumping frequency. The nature of the peak is associated with a drastic increase in the static transverse susceptibility of the film in the vicinity of the anisotropy field. It is shown phenomenologically that the peak can be observed only for quality samples with small angular and amplitude dispersion of the uniaxial anisotropy.     

Influence of surface and bulk anisotropies on domain structures in a thin plate

The method of micromagnetic modeling is used to investigate the influence of the surface anisotropy of easy plane type on the domain structures in a thin uniaxial magnetic plate for different values of the bulk anisotropy constant. The easy magnetization direction is oriented perpendicularly to the plate plane. It is established that for low and high bulk anisotropy values, the surface anisotropy has no significant effect on the magnetization field M. For some intermediate values of the bulk anisotropy constant, the surface anisotropy can influence the structure of the domain boundaries and change qualitatively the domain structure of the sample.     

Thickness dependence of magnetic domain formation in La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 epitaxial thin films studied by XMCD-PEEM

We have used photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) to study the effect of thin film thickness on the magnetic domain formation in La_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃ samples that were epitaxially grown on stepped SrTiO₃ (0 0 1) substrates. The magnetic image exhibited a stripe structure elongated along the step direction, irrespective of film thickness, suggesting that uniaxial magnetic anisotropy induced by step-and-terrace structures plays an important role in the magnetic domain formation. Additional domains evolved gradually with increasing film thickness. In these domains, the direction of magnetization differed from the step direction due to biaxial magneto-crystalline anisotropy. The evolution of additional magnetic domains with increasing film thickness implies that a competition exists between the two anisotropies in LSMO films.     

Magnetic domain and local atomic structures of the Fe<Subscript>0.94</Subscript>Si<Subscript>0.06</Subscript> alloy before and after thermomagnetic treatment in an alternating-current magnetic field

The changes observed in the local atomic structure of an iron alloy with 6 at % Si as a result of thermomagnetic treatment in an alternating-current magnetic field and their correlation with magnetic characteristics, such as the domain structure and magnetic properties, have been investigated using Mössbauer spectroscopy. It has been shown that the destabilization of the domain structure is caused by the destruction of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in domains due to a disordered distribution of pairs of silicon atoms along the 〈100〉 easy magnetization axes. Annealing and cooling without an external magnetic field and in an alternating-current magnetic field lead to a change in the magnetic texture of single-crystal samples of the siliconiron alloy. When the samples are annealed in an alternating-current magnetic field, the magnitude of this effect depends on the orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the crystallographic axes of the sample.     

Recovery of soft magnetic properties of FeNiSm films by Ta interlayer

The magnetic properties of FeNiSm thin films with different thicknesses, different Ta interlayer thicknesses and different numbers of Ta interlayers were investigated. The single layer FeNiSm shows in-plane uniaxial anisotropy at a thickness below critical value, but shows weak perpendicular anisotropy with a stripe domain structure at thickness above the critical value. Experiments indicate that one or more Ta interlayers inserted into thick FeNiSm films with weak perpendicular anisotropy were effective not only in canceling the perpendicular anisotropy, but also in recovering the in-plane uniaxial anisotropy. Blocking of the columnar growth of FeNi grains by the Ta interlayer is considered to be responsible for this spin reorientation phenomenon. Moreover, the magnetization reversal mechanism in FeNiSm films with uniaxial anisotropy can be ascribed to coherent rotation when the applied field is close to the hard axis and to domain-wall unpinning when the applied field is close to the easy axis. The dynamic magnetic properties of FeNiSm films with uniaxial anisotropy were investigated in the frequency range 0.1-5 GHz. The degradation of the soft magnetic properties of magnetic thin films due to the growth of columnar grains can be avoided by insertion of a Ta interlayer.     

Temperature-driven change of morphology and magnetic anisotropy of Fe monolayers on GaAs(001)

The thickness- and temperature-dependent irreversible change of morphology and magnetic parameters of 5 and 10 monolayers (ML) of Fe on GaAs(001) are investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction, ferromagnetic resonance and magnetometry in ultra-high vacuum. After heating to 550 K (5 ML) or 650 K (10 ML) large flat islands form which have the same vertical layer spacing as the continuous film. The morphological change is reflected in a change of the magnetic anisotropy parameters by a factor of up to 5 in the case of cubic and by a reduction of up to 20% for the overall uniaxial anisotropy contributions. The magnetization of the film did not change after the transformation. These results are explained by the increased number of steps leading to an increase of the shape anisotropy, which in turn reduces the overall uniaxial out-of-plane anisotropy. PACS 75.50.Bb; 75.70.Ak; 76.50.+g     

Dynamics of domain walls in ultrathin magnetic films

The domain walls in ultrathin ferromagnetic films with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy are investigated theoretically. It is shown that taking account of the magnetodipole and magnetoelastic interactions leads to the appearance of an effective anisotropy with respect to the direction of the normal to the plane of the wall. The existence of a new type of domain walls—“corner” walls, at which the magnetization vector is rotated in the plane making a certain angle, which depends on the film parameters, with the plane of the domain wall and the static and dynamic properties of these walls are investigated. The dependence of the limiting velocity of the domain walls on the film thickness is found. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1476–1489 (October 1997)