Studying nanomagnets and magnetic heterostructures with X-ray PEEM at the Swiss Light Source

Polarization dependent X-ray absorption spectroscopy and microscopy enables the element selective investigation of magnetic systems at the nanoscale. At the Swiss Light Source a photoemission electron microscope is used for the study of a broad variety of systems. Here, a review of recent activities is presented with a focus on instrumental and analytical developments. A new procedure for the 3 dimensional determination of the magnetization vector has been developed, and is demonstrated for GdFeCo microstructures displaying in-plane and out-of-plane domains, and sub-20 nm Fe nanoparticles. The recent progress for measurements in applied magnetic fields is presented and a new set-up for time-resolved measurements employing femtosecond laser pulses is described.     

Stochastic nature of magnetic processes studied by full-field soft X-ray microscopy

In nanomagnetism, one of the crucial scientific questions is whether magnetic behaviors are deterministic or stochastic on a nanoscale. Apart from the exciting physical issue, this question is also of paramount highest relevance for using magnetic materials in a wealth of technological applications such as magnetic storage and sensor devices. In the past, the research on the stochasticity of a magnetic process has been mainly done by macroscopic measurements, which only offer ensemble-averaged information. To give more accurate answer for the question and to fully understand related underlying physics, the direct observation of statistical behaviors in magnetic structures and magnetic phenomena utilizing advanced characterization techniques is highly required. One of the ideal tools for such study is a full-field soft X-ray microscope since it enables imaging of magnetic structures on the large field of view within a few seconds. Here we review the stochastic behaviors of various magnetic processes including magnetization reversal process in thin films, magnetic domain wall motions in nanowires, and magnetic vortex formations in nanodisks studied by full-field soft X-ray microscopy. The origin triggering the stochastic nature witnessed in each magnetic process and the way to control the intrinsic nature are also discussed.     

激光软X—射线近贴显微技术初步研究

描述了用高功率脉冲激光打靶产生的等离子体作为软X-射线源而进行的近贴显微研究,并得到了分辨率好于1μm的结果.     

软X射线偏振光学元件

介绍了50—2000eV软X射线能区偏振光学元件的发展现状，阐述和分析了几种偏振光学元件的性能，并说明了这些偏振光学元件的应用。     

Exploring the magnetic and organic microstructures with photoemission electron microscope

We present photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) studies on geometrically constrained ferromagnetic, organic, and organics–ferromagnet hybrid structures. Powered by an elliptically polarized undulator, the PEEM at Taiwan Light Source (TLS) is capable of recording polarization enhanced X-ray images and has been employed to examine the domain configurations in a lithographically patterned permalloy film as well as the orientations of pentacene molecules adsorbed on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) modified gold surfaces. In addition, magnetic images acquired on cobalt/pentacene and pentacene/cobalt bilayers reveal that in hybrid structures the order of thin film deposition can lead to distinct domain configurations. Spectroscopic evidence further suggests that there is significant orbital hybridization at the interface where metallic cobalt was deposited directly on organic pentacene.     

Thickness-dependent magnetic domain structures of Co ultra-thin film investigated by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy

Thickness-dependent magnetic domain structure of ultrathin Co wedge films (0.3 nm–1.0 nm) sandwiched by Pt layers was investigated by scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) employing X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), utilizing elliptically polarized soft x-rays and electromagnetic fields, with a spatial resolution of 50 nm. The magnetic domain images measured at the Co L₃ edge showed the evolution of the magnetic domain structures from maze-like form to the bubble-like form as the perpendicular magnetic field was applied. The asymmetric domain expansion of a 500 nm-scale bubble domain was also measured when the in-plane and perpendicular external magnetic field were applied simultaneously.     

Magnetism at spinel thin film interfaces probed through soft X-ray spectroscopy techniques

Magnetic order and coupling at the interfaces of highly spin polarized Fe₃O₄ heterostructures have been determined by surface sensitive and element specific soft X-ray spectroscopy and spectro-microscopy techniques. At ambient temperature, the interface between paramagnetic CoCr₂O₄ or MnCr₂O₄ and ferrimagnetic Fe₃O₄ isostructural bilayers exhibits long range magnetic order of Co, Mn and Cr cations which cannot be explained in terms of the formation of interfacial MnFe₂O₄ or CoFe₂O₄. Instead, the ferrimagnetism is induced by the adjacent Fe₃O₄ layer and is the result of the stabilization of a spinel phase not achievable in bulk form. Magnetism at the interface region is observable up to 500 K, far beyond the chromite bulk Curie temperature of 50-95 K.     

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.     

Tuning the coercive field of Ni and CuNi thin films with the embedding of Co nanoparticles: An element-specific study

Cobalt nanoparticles have been embedded either within magnetic thin films of CuNi or Ni, or at their interface with an Al capping layer. Soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) was used to measure element-specific hysteresis loops, allowing discrimination between the nanoparticles and the host film. The hysteresis shows coupling between the nanoparticles and the films and a reduction in coercivity is observed when positioning the nanoparticles within the film, as opposed to at its interface with the cap. Sum rule analysis of the XMCD spectra makes it possible to determine the orbital to spin moment ratios for Co and Ni in the samples. The difference in the calculated ratios is consistent with the differences in the coercivities, the films appearing more homogenous due to hybridization of the 3d bands of Co and Ni when the nanoparticles are embedded deeper within the films, creating less pinning sites and hence a lower coercivity.     

Magnetic properties of 2D nano-islands II: Ising spin model with out-of-plane magnetic field

An Ising effective field theory model is presented to calculate the magnetic properties of 2D nano-islands on a nonmagnetic substrate, subject to an externally out-of-plane applied magnetic field. The system Hamiltonian contains nearest neighbor exchange interactions, single-atom magnetic anisotropies, and the Zeeman term. The calculations yield, in particular, the single site spin correlations, the magnetizations, and the isothermal susceptibilities, for the core and periphery domains of the nano-island. The choice of a spin S=1 for the atoms of the system permits the analysis of local spin fluctuations via the single site spin correlations. We investigate in this respect the effects due to the different magnetocrystalline anisotropies and reduced dimensionalities, for the core and periphery domains, and in particular the critical influence of the applied magnetic field. Detailed theoretical results are presented for the square and hexagonal lattice symmetries, with numerical applications for the 2D monolayer Co nano-islands on a Pt substrate. It is shown that the remarkable differences between the magnetic properties of the core and periphery domains in zero field are washed out when an out-of-plane field is applied. The applied field also provokes critical discontinuities for the spin correlations and magnetization reversals, for the core and periphery domains, which are especially evident for the hexagonal lattice nano-island in the range of fields of interest. The discontinuities and magnetization reversals occur over elementary temperature widths, and shift to lower temperatures with increasing field. The field-dependant isothermal susceptibilities show new features very different from those for the susceptibilities in zero field. The present Ising model does not show any blocking temperature transition to superparamagnetism.     

Micromagnetic analysis of unusual, V-shaped domain transitions in MnAs nanowires

V-shaped domain transitions in α‐MnAs nanowires were investigated by micromagnetic simulations. These rather unusual domain patterns are commonly observed experimentally by surface-sensitive magnetic imaging techniques. It has been speculated that the accompanying inclined domain walls in MnAs are the result of either an exchange biasing effect between ferromagnetic α‐MnAs wires and antiferromagnetic β‐MnAs wires or possibly due to competing exchange mechanisms in MnAs. Here we present evidence that these domain features are in fact transitions between three-dimensional flux-closure domains of opposite chirality and can therefore rule out the involvement of an antiferromagnetic biasing effect or anisotropic exchange. The formation of the energetically unfavorable V-shaped domain transitions is discussed in the context of the magneto-structural phase transition of the sample.