Enhanced optical magnetoelectric effect in a patterned polar ferrimagnet

A simple method to dramatically enhance the optical magnetoelectric (ME) effect, i.e., nonreciprocal directional birefringence, is proposed and demonstrated for a polar ferrimagnet GaFeO3 as a typical example. We patterned a simple grating with a period of 4 microm on a surface of GaFeO3 crystal and used the diffracted light as a probe. The optical ME modulation signal for the Bragg spot of the order n=1 becomes gigantic in the photon energy 1-4 eV and reaches 1-2% of the bare diffracted light intensity in a magnetic field of 500 Oe. This is amplified by more than 3 orders of magnitude compared to that for the reflection of bulk GaFeO3. Fabricating a photonic crystal will make it possible to lead the way for the practical use of the optical ME effect.     

Optical magnetoelectric effect in the polar GaFeO3 ferrimagnet

The optical magnetoelectric (ME) effect, i.e., the change of optical absorption upon the reversal of the light propagation direction, has been investigated for a polar ferrimagnet GaFeO3. For dipole- and spin-forbidden d-d transition bands located at 1.2-2.3 eV, a clear signal of the optical ME effect (Deltaalphat approximately 3x10(-3)) is observed with an applied magnetic field as low as 500 Oe and a sample thickness (t) of 50 microm. The observation of a large ME effect in the present compound suggests a possible route to magnification of this novel phenomenon for application.     

Nonreciprocal directional dichroism in multiferroics

The pulse profiles of the Crab pulsar(as well as some other pulsars) vary with time. They can lead to a major source of intrinsic timing noise, which lacks a detailed physical model. The phase separation ? between the first left peak(P1) and the second right peak(P2) is a key parameter that shows the variations of pulse profiles for the Crab pulsar. It was found that the evolution of ? has a tendency with increasing rates of 0.82?± 0.25?, 0.80?± 0.54?, and 0.77?± 0.28?per century for the 2-6, 6-15, and15-60 ke V bands, respectively. Furthermore, the flux ratios(P2/P1) of X-ray pulse profiles in the three bands were calculated, and the derived flux ratios were consistent with the radio and X-ray measurements of the Insight-HXMT. In addition to discovering the physical origin of the pulse changes, the high-SNR X-ray pulse profiles were simulated in the annular gap model, and two model parameters(e.g., the maximum emission heights of the two peaks) were observed to slightly affect the variations of peak separation. We fitted the long-term variations of emission heights of the two peaks and discovered that the emission heights showed increasing tendencies with time. Variations of these emission heights induced a characteristic period derivative, and a complete formula for both the magnetic dipole radiation and wind-particle-induced variations of the moment of inertia was used for the pulsar's spin-down to obtain the variation rate ˙α of the magnetic inclination angle, which was-1.60?per century. Intrinsic timing noise is observed to be mainly induced by the variations of pulse profiles, which might correlate with a characteristic spin period derivative arising from the fluctuations of the emission regions. This work will lay a foundation for understanding the origin of intrinsic timing noise and making high-precision timing models in the future.     

Nonreciprocal directional dichroism in multiferroics

Nonreciprocal directional dichroism in multiferroics, namely magnetoelectric coupling in the dynamic regime, is endowed with rich physics and promising applications, which are entangled with fundamental physical components, such as spin, orbital,lattice, charge, and topology. Such a linear nonreciprocal response behavior in the GHz-THz frequency range, represented by optical magnetoelectric effect and magnetochiral dichroism, occurs ubiquitously in material systems with the spontaneous breaking of space-time symmetry, and is subject to Onsager's reciprocal theorem in the thermodynamic limit. Microscopically,these nonreciprocal responses are usually encoded by toroidization(chirality) and electromagnon(quasiparticle), thus establishing a comprehensive understanding of magnetoelectric coupling and irreversible dynamics. Herein, the basic mechanisms and emergent nonreciprocal directional dichroism in single-phase multiferroics are summarized. We expect that the present review will stimulate diverse possibilities toward nonreciprocal directional dichroism within and beyond multiferroics.     

Non-reciprocal X-ray linear dichroism

Recently, a new optical effect was observed by Goulon, Rogalev, Goulon-Ginet, Benayoun, Paolasini, Brouder, Malgrange & Metcalf [Phys. Rev. Lett. (2000), 85, 4385-4388] using linearly polarized synchrotron radiation. The authors have correctly analysed the effect using the mathematical framework of Buckingham and Barron. A brief review is given with the underlying simplicity discussed from a symmetry point of view.     

Solitons in a ferrimagnet

Exact N-soliton solutions of nonlinear Landau-Lifschitz equations are obtained by means of the modified form of the inverse scattering method (“dressing method”) for the case of an isotropic ferrimagnet with two non-equivalent sublattices.     

Transmission X-ray microscopy using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (X-MCD) was used as a large, element-specific and quantitative magnetic contrast mechanism in the soft X-ray microscopes at BESSY I (Berlin) and the ALS (Berkeley). The present state and potential of magnetic transmission X-ray microscopy (MTXM) is outlined. The possibility to record images in varying magnetic fields and the high spatial resolution down to 25 nm were used to image out-of-plane magnetized (4 ?Fe / 4 ?Gd)×75 systems. Magnetic domains could be studied in arrays of circular and square dots with lateral dimensions down to 180 nm. Hysteresis loops of individual dots were deduced using the direct proportionality of the X-MCD contrast to the sample magnetization. Images of a 3 nmCr / 50 nmFe / 6 nmCr film demonstrate for the first time that MTXM is also able to observe in-plane magnetized domains. In the future the possible applications of MTXM will be extended with regard to the strength of the external field, the available energy range and the sample conditions by building a dedicated transmission X-ray microscope for magnetic imaging at BESSY II. Received: 22 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 July 2001 / Published online: 5 October 2001     

Calculation of X-ray natural circular dichroism

A method is presented to calculate the natural circular dichroism recently discovered in the X-ray range (XNCD). The basic formula represents XNCD as an odd second-rank tensor and leads to a sum rule that relates XNCD to the mixing of odd and even orbitals in the ground state. A multiple-scattering theory of XNCD is presented, and calculated spectra for the L-edges of iodine in LiIO₃ compare favorably with the experiments. Received: 20 October 1997 / Revised: 18 February 1998 / Accepted: 31 March 1998     

同步辐射X射线磁二色性在自旋电子学研究中的应用

文章对同步辐射X射线磁圆二色谱和X射线磁线二色谱的独特优点进行了综合分析,并通过一些典型应用实例说明同步辐射磁性测量技术具有元素分辨能力、高灵敏度、纳米量级空间分辨能力和皮秒量级时间分辨能力,并可用于测量铁磁性和反铁磁性,因而在自旋电子学材料和器件研究领域具有广泛的应用前景.     

同步辐射X射线磁二色性在自旋电子学研究中的应用

文章对同步辐射X射线磁圆二色谱和X射线磁线二色谱的独特优点进行了综合分析,并通过一些典型应用实例说明同步辐射磁性测量技术具有元素分辨能力、高灵敏度、纳米量级空间分辨能力和皮秒量级时间分辨能力,并可用于测量铁磁性和反铁磁性,因而在自旋电子学材料和器件研究领域具有广泛的应用前景.     

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism involving valence states

Accepted: 6 March 1997     

X-ray linear dichroism dependence on ferroelectric polarization

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and photoemission electron microscopy are techniques commonly used to determine the magnetic properties of thin films, crystals, and heterostructures. Recently, these methods have been used in the study of magnetoelectrics and multiferroics. The analysis of such materials has been compromised by the presence of multiple order parameters and the lack of information on how to separate these coupled properties. In this work, we shed light on the manifestation of dichroism from ferroelectric polarization and atomic structure using photoemission electron microscopy and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Linear dichroism arising from the ferroelectric order in the PbZr0:2Ti0:8O3 thin films was studied as a function of incident x-ray polarization and geometry to unambiguously determine the angular dependence of the ferroelectric contribution to the dichroism. These measurements allow us to examine the contribution of surface charges and ferroelectric polarization as potential mechanisms for linear dichroism. The x-ray linear dichroism from ferroelectric order revealed an angular dependence based on the angle between the ferroelectric polarization direction and the x-ray polarization axis, allowing a formula for linear dichroism in ferroelectric samples to be defined.     

X-ray natural circular dichroism in copper metaborate

The local electronic structure of copper ions in a copper metaborate CuB₂O₄ crystal is studied on the ESRF synchrotron using X-ray absorption polarization-dependent spectroscopy. The X-ray natural circular dichroism near the K absorption edge of copper is measured in the direction that is perpendicular to crystal axis c. The data obtained indicate the presence of hybridized p–d electronic states of copper. Theoretical calculations are used to separate the contributions of the two crystallographically nonequivalent positions of copper atoms in the unit cell of CuB₂O₄ to the absorption and X-ray circular dichroism spectra of the crystal.     

Soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism of Cr-doped GaN

Soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) have been measured for the Ga_0.97Cr_0.03N film grown by NH₃-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Temperature dependence of the XMCD intensity was well described by the Curie–Weiss law. Although the sample showed ferromagnetic behavior at least up to room temperature, the ferromagnetic component could not be detected by the XMCD measurement.     

Coercive field of a polycrystalline ferrimagnet with uni-axial anisotropy

Unlike the coercive field _Hc$H_{\mathrm{c}}$ of a bulk ferrimagnet, which diverges at the compensation temperature _Tcomp$T_{\mathrm{comp}}$, the coercive field of a polycrystalline ferrimagnet with uni-axial anisotropy is shown to have a minimum at _Tcomp$T_{\mathrm{comp}}$. Despite this behavior, the field required for domain-wall motion still diverges at the compensation temperature. These ideas are used to treat a ferrimagnetic class of molecule-based magnets, the bimetallic oxalates, that exhibit a minimum coercivity at _Tcomp$T_{\mathrm{comp}}$.     

Phase transitions in a two-dimensional dipole ferrimagnet

The magnetic configurations of the system of magnetic dipoles that have different values and are arranged in a staggered order on a square lattice are studied. A numerical simulation is used to study the phase transitions in the system when the mismatch between the dipoles changes. The restructuring of the magnetic configuration of the system induced by a change in the mismatch is shown to proceed via sequential second-order phase transitions between collinear and noncollinear phases. The numerical simulation results are supported by analytical calculations performed with trial functions.