Uniform spin wave modes in antiferromagnetic nanoparticles with uncompensated moments

In magnetic nanoparticles the uniform precession (q = 0 spin wave) mode gives the predominant contribution to the magnetic excitations. We have calculated the energy of the uniform mode in antiferromagnetic nanoparticles with uncompensated magnetic moments, using the coherent potential approximation. In the presence of uncompensated moments, an antiferromagnetic nanoparticle must be considered as a kind of a ferrimagnet. Two magnetic anisotropy terms are considered, a planar term confining the spins to the basal plane, and an axial term determining an easy axis in this plane. Excitation energies are calculated for various combinations of these two anisotropy terms, ranging from the simple uniaxial case to the planar case with a strong out-of-plane anisotropy. In the simple uniaxial case, the uncompensated moment has a large influence on the excitation energy, but in the planar case it is much less important. The calculations explain recent neutron scattering measurements on nanoparticles of antiferromagnetic α-Fe₂O₃ and NiO.     

Effects of magnetic structure distortion near a μ + meson in μSR spectroscopy

Possible effects of strong local anisotropy in the vicinity of a μ meson occupying a rare-earth metal interstitial site are considered. The distortion of the magnetic structure and the corresponding contribution to the dipolar field at the muon are calculated. A threshold-type change of the dipolar field depending on the local anisotropy or external magnetic field is predicted for the case where the direction toward the muon is perpendicular to the magnetic moment of one in the ions. The possibility of existence of two strengths of the dipolar field for the ferromagnetic phases of Dy and Tb, and of its abrupt change depending on the direction of the magnetic moment of the plane is predicted for helical antiferromagnetic structures. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1298–1304 (July 1998)     

Theory of birefringence of sound in easy-plane rhombohedral antiferromagnets with inclusion of hexagonal anisotropy and mechanical stresses

The constructed thermodynamic theory of magnetic birefringence of transverse sound in easyplane weak ferromagnets with an axial basal anisotropy induced by boundary conditions has been generalized to the case of additional inclusion of the hexagonal anisotropy enhanced by isotropic mechanical stresses. The magnetoelastic contribution ΔC _a to the effective elastic modulus C ₄₄^eff = C ₄₄ + ΔC _a , which determines the phase velocity of the magnetic mode of the acoustic wave in a crystal, has been calculated. It has been shown that the induced anisotropy with the twofold and sixfold symmetry leads to the appearance of an additional anisotropic term of the fourfold symmetry in the contribution ΔC _a . The developed theory has made it possible to satisfactorily describe the existing experiments.     

Combined effect of demagnetizing field and induced magnetic anisotropy on the magnetic properties of manganese-zinc ferrite composites

This work is devoted to the analysis of factors responsible for the high-frequency shift of the complex permeability (μ^?) dispersion region in polymer composites of manganese-zinc (MnZn) ferrite, as well as to the increase in their thermomagnetic stability. The magnetic spectra of the ferrite and its composites with polyurethane (MnZn-PU) and polyaniline (MnZn-PANI) are measured in the frequency range from 1 MHz to 3 GHz in a longitudinal magnetization field of up to 700 Ое and in the temperature interval from −20 °С to +150 °С. The approximation of the magnetic spectra by a model, which takes into account the role of domain wall motion and magnetization rotation, allows one to determine the specific contribution of resonance processes associated with domain wall motion and the natural ferromagnetic resonance to the μ^?. It is established that, at high frequencies, the μ^? of the MnZn ferrite is determined solely by magnetization rotation, which occurs in the region of natural ferromagnetic resonance when the ferrite is in the “single domain” state. In the polymer composites of the MnZn ferrite, the high-frequency permeability is also determined mainly by the magnetization rotation; however, up to high values of magnetizing fields, there is a contribution of domain wall motion, thus the “single domain” state in ferrite is not reached. The frequency and temperature dependence of μ^? in polymer composites are governed by demagnetizing field and the induced magnetic anisotropy. The contribution of the induced magnetic anisotropy is crucial for MnZn-PANI. It is attributed to the elastic stresses that arise due to the domain wall pinning by a polyaniline film adsorbed on the surface of the ferrite during in-situ polymerization.     

Shape of the magnetic resonance line in a thin film on the surface of an anisotropic superconductor

The shape of the EPR line in a thin (=λ/2, where λ is the London penetration depth of the magnetic field in the superconductor) paramagnetic film deposited on the surface of an anisotropic superconductor is calculated in an oblique magnetic field with allowance for the inhomogeneity of the local magnetic field of the Abrikosov vortex lattice. It is shown that, as the tilt angle of the external magnetic field is varied, the shape of the EPR line changes noticeably. This fact can give additional information about the superconductor parameters (the symmetry type of the vortex lattice and the anisotropy parameter of the superconductor). Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 386–388 (March 1999)     

Unusual characteristics of the spin-wave mechanism of domain-wall motion in iron-garnet films with orthorhombic magnetic anisotropy

The extraordinary dynamic properties of single-crystal iron garnet films with magnetic anisotropy in the plane of the film, specifically unidirectional anisotropy of the domain-wall velocity, are explained on the basis of a mechanism of domain-wall motion that incorporates local rotation of the magnetization vector ahead of the moving domain wall, induced by spin waves radiated from the wall and by anisotropy of the dissipative properties of the single-crystal iron garnet film in its plane. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1421–1427 (August 1997)     

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)     

Photoinduced changes in the space-modulated magnetic order of a FeBO<Subscript>3</Subscript>:Mg single crystal

An effect of nonpolarized white light on the modulated magnetic structure of a FeBO₃:Mg single crystal, which arises in this light-plane weak ferromagnet in the low temperature range during technical magnetization, has been revealed. It has been found that the degree of the light action on the magnetic state of FeBO₃:Mg depends both on its duration and on the orientation of the spontaneous magnetization vector M of the crystal during illumination. Interpretation of the results obtained has been performed in the context of the “magnetic ripple” theory on the assumption that the absorbed light induces additional uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the easy plane of the crystal and that the anisotropy axis is collinear to the vector M during illumination.     

Nonlinear reconfiguration of vortexlike domain walls in magnetically uniaxial films under the action of an external field normal to the easy magnetic axis

The effect of external magnetic field H normal to the anisotropy axis on the energy and configuration of vortexlike asymmetric magnetic walls in a magnetically uniaxial film with an easy magnetic axis parallel to its surface is studied. The investigation is based on minimizing the energy functional of the film with due regard to exchange energy, magnetic anisotropy energy, magnetostatic energy, and Zeeman energy. The range of H below the anisotropy field is found where the asymmetric Néel wall is stable, unlike the case H = 0, when the asymmetric Bloch wall is stable. It is shown that an asymmetric Bloch wall becomes absolutely unstable and reconfigures into an asymmetric Néel wall at some critical values of H = H _⊥. The dependences of critical field H _⊥ on the film thickness and saturation induction at different values of the anisotropy field are determined: field H _⊥ depends on the thickness nonlinearly and on the saturation induction nonmonotonically.     

Velocity asymmetry of a 1D 180-degree domain wall in ferromagnets with negative cubic anisotropy

As a result of the absence of a definite spatial symmetry in the structure of a 180-degree domain wall in ferromagnets with negative crystallographic magnetic anisotropy, terms which are even functions of the external driving magnetic field appear in the velocity of a one-dimensional domain wall, and the wall undergoes drift in an oscillating field. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 11, 823–827 (10 December 1998)     

Solution of the problem of catastrophic relaxation of homogeneous spin precession in superfluid 3He-B

The quantitative analysis of the “catastrophic relaxation” of the coherent spin precession in ³He-B is presented. This phenomenon has been observed below a temperature of about 0.5 T _c as an abrupt shortening of the induction signal decay. It is explained in terms of the decay instability of the homogeneous transverse NMR mode into spin waves of the longitudinal NMR. Recently, the cross interaction amplitude between the two modes has been calculated by Sourovtsev and Fomin [9] for the so-called Brinkman-Smith configuration, i.e., for the orientation of the orbital momentum of Cooper pairs along the magnetic field, L ‖ H. In their treatment, the interaction is caused by the anisotropy of the speed of the spin waves. We found that, in the more general case of the nonparallel orientation of L corresponding to the typical conditions of the experiment, the spin-orbital interaction provides the additional interaction between the modes. By analyzing the experimental data, we are able to distinguish which contribution is dominating in different regimes. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Double-Q magnetic structures and strong planar anisotropy in tetragonal ErRu2Ge2and ErRu2Si2

Single crystal magnetization measurements and powder neutron diffraction on tetragonal ErRu₂Ge₂ as well as anisotropy of the paramagnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements on ErRu₂Si₂ are presented. Besides the huge crystal field contribution to the uniaxial anisotropy, which favors the basal plane, a strong in-plane anisotropy is evidenced. From these features and neutron diffraction experiments it is shown that magnetic structures of these materials are double-Q and accordingly non-colinear below their Néel temperature (5.2 and 6.0 K for Ge and Si based compounds, respectively). The magnetic structures induced during the metamagnetic processes are discussed. Received 24 December 1999     

Field-induced spin-reorientation transitions in magnetic superlattices with uniaxial anisotropy and biquadratic exchange

Phase transitions induced by an external field are investigated in magnetic multilayer systems with uniaxial anisotropy and biquadratic exchange. A magnetic field directed perpendicular to the plane of the layers changes the effective anisotropy and exchange constants, determining the orientation of the magnetization in the plane of the layers, and can give rise to spin-reorientation transitions. All possible types of such transitions are investigated for the case of uniaxial anisotropy, which differs substantially from the case of cubic anisotropy by the different renormalization of the effective anisotropy constants. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 461–463 (March 1999)     

Spontaneous transformations of the magnetic structure of a film nanocontact

The magnetization distributions in a symmetric magnetic film nanocontact for oppositely magnetized ferromagnetic electrodes are analyzed based on numerically solving the Landau-Lifshitz and magnetostatic equations as a function of magnetic and geometrical factors. It is found that a symmetric magnetic configuration is unstable when the head-to-head domain wall dividing the regions with opposite orientations of magnetization is located at the center of the nanocontact. The instability arises when the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy constant reaches a certain critical value K _c below which it spontaneously leaves the center of the nanocontact. The transition from the symmetric state (wall at the center) to an asymmetric one can be continuous (second order) or discrete (first order), depending on the geometrical and physical parameters of the nanocontact (length to width ratio, anisotropy constant, and saturation magnetization). The phase diagram is constructed in terms of the variable’s nanocontact length vs. anisotropy constant. This diagram divides the symmetric and asymmetric magnetic configurations of the system. The occurrence of a tricritical point in the phase diagram is its characteristic feature.     

Domain-wall pinning by local control of anisotropy in Pt/Co/Pt strips

We theoretically and experimentally analyze the pinning of a magnetic domain wall (DW) at engineered anisotropy variations in Pt/Co/Pt strips with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. An analytical model is derived showing that a step in the anisotropy acts as an energy barrier for the DW. Quantitative measurements are performed showing that the anisotropy can be controlled by focused ion beam irradiation with Ga ions. This tool is used to experimentally study the field-induced switching of nanostrips which are locally irradiated. The boundary of the irradiated area indeed acts as a pinning barrier for the domain wall and the pinning strength increases with the anisotropy difference. Varying the thickness of the Co layer provides an additional way to tune the anisotropy, and it is shown that a thinner Co layer gives a higher starting anisotropy thereby allowing tunable DW pinning in a wider range of fields. Finally, we demonstrate that not only the anisotropy itself, but also the width of the anisotropy barrier can be tuned on the length scale of the domain wall.     

Magnetic anisotropy and low-frequency dielectric response of weak ferromagnetic phase in κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Cl, where BEDT-TTF is Bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene

We report a detailed characterization of the magnetism and AC transport in single crystals of the organic conductor -(BEDT-TTF)₂Cu[N(CN)₂]Cl by means of magnetic anisotropy measurements and low-frequency dielectric spectroscopy. Magnetic anisotropy obeys Curie-Weiss law with negative Curie-Weiss temperature in the temperature range 300 K-70 K. An antiferromagnetic transition with concomitant canted antiferromagnetic state is established at 22 K. A large hysteresis in the spin-flop transition and magnetic field reversal of the weak ferromagnetic magnetization are documented for the first time. A broad dielectric relaxation mode of moderate strength () emerges at 32 K, and weakens with temperature. The mean relaxation time, much larger than that expected for single-particle excitations, is thermally activated in a manner similar to the DC conductivity and saturates below 22 K. These features suggest the origin of the broad relaxation as an intrinsic property of the weak ferromagnetic ground state. We propose a charged domain wall in a random ferromagnetic domain structure as the relaxation entity. We argue that the observed features might be well described if Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction is taken into account. A Debye relaxation with similar temperature dependence was also observed and seems to be related to an additional ferromagnetic-like, most probably, field-induced phase. We tentatively associate this phase, whose tiny contribution was sample dependent, with a Cu²⁺ magnetic subsystem. Received 15 June 1998 and Received in final form 1 February 1999     

Magneto-optical phenomena in MnAs/CaF2/Si(111) epitaxial films in a transverse magnetic field

Field and angular dependences of the rotation of the plane of polarization in a transverse magnetic field H⊥k under normal reflection of light (λ=633 nm) have been studied in MnAs ferromagnetic epitaxial films grown by MBE on CaF₂/Si(111) substrates. The angle of rotation of the plane of polarization a is shown to be determined by contributions even and odd in the magnetization M. The odd contribution is associated with the deviation of the easy plane of magnetic anisotropy from the film plane, which originates from misorientation of the Si surface from the (111) plane, or from a presence of small regions of ( )-oriented MnAs. The even contribution is due to the optical anisotropy of films connected with quadratic-in-M terms in the dielectric permittivity tensor ɛ _ij of manganese arsenide. A method based on measuring the angular dependences of a in a rotating magnetic field is proposed to separate these contributions. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 110–115 (January 1999)     

Magnetostatic surface waves produced by an inhomogeneity of the anisotropy with a turning point of the spectral function on a ferromagnet surface

Magnetostatic surface waves with fixed frequency and wave vector are predicted to exist in a ferromagnet with an inhomogeneity of the magnetic anisotropy such that the spectral function has a turning point on the surface. This result is most important for the case when an external magnetic field magnetizes the ferromagnet perpendicular to its surface. The frequency of the surface wave is determined by the frequency of the magnetostatic volume wave at the surface of the ferromagnet, and the wave vector is determined by the surface values of the local magnetic anisotropy field and its derivative. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 118–123 (June 1998)     

NMR signals from 0° domain-wall magnetic inhomogeneities in cubic ferrite-garnet crystals

The Fe⁵⁷ NMR signals from 0° domain-wall magnetic inhomogeneities are studied numerically at sites where a 180° domain wall is stabilized in cubic ferrite-garnet crystals. The dependence of the NMR absorption lineshape on the induced anisotropy constants and on the magnitude of the constant magnetic field is studied. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 269–273 (February 1999)     

Magnetic anisotropy of YFe11Ti and its hydride

A study of the magnetic anisotropy of single-crystal YFe₁₁Ti and of its hydride is reported. The measurements were performed on a vibrating-sample and a torsion magnetometer on field-oriented single-crystal and powder samples. The temperature dependence of the magnetic anisotropy constants K ₁ and K ₂ was determined by a mathematical treatment of experimental torque curves and by applying the Sucksmith-Thompson technique to magnetization data. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the magnetic anisotropy constants of YFe₁₁Ti and of its hydride does not follow the prediction of the single-ion exchange model. It is found that hydrogenenation results in a growth of the magnetic anisotropy constant, which can be explained by an electron-density redistribution near the lattice positions occupied by iron atoms. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 285–289 (February 1998)