Domain wall creation in nanostructures driven by a spin-polarized current

We report on current-driven magnetization reversal in nanopillars with elements having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Whereas only the two uniform magnetization states are available under the action of a magnetic field, we observed current-induced Bloch domain walls in pillars as small as 50 x 100 nm(2). This domain wall state can be further controlled by current to restore the uniform states. The ability to nucleate and manipulate domain walls by a current gives insight into the reversal mechanisms of small nanoelements and provides new prospects for ultrahigh density spintronic devices.     

Magnetic force microscopy studies of domain walls in nickel and cobalt films

A magnetic force microscopy is used to examine the domain walls in nickel and cobalt films deposited by argon ion sputtering. Thin nickel films deposited at high substrate temperatures exhibit coexistent Bloch and Neel walls. Films grown at room temperature display alternative Bloch lines with cap switches. These films agglomerate to form grains after annealed at high temperatures. The film composed of larger grains behaves better nucleation implying magnetic domains of closure, while the film composed of smaller grains exhibits more defects implying alternative Bloch lines. We have also observed domain displacements and cap switches, which occur due to precipitation of particles in small grain size films. Stripe domains are observed for film thicknesses larger than 100 nm. They become zigzag cells when an external field of 1.5 T is applied perpendicular to the surface of the films. This experiment indicates that the domain sizes in thin films and the strip widths for thick films both depend on the square-root of the film thickness, which varies from 5 to 45 nm and from 100 to 450 nm, respectively.     

Domain walls and ising-BLOCH transitions in parametrically driven systems

Parametrically driven systems sustaining sech solitons are shown to support a new kind of localized state. These structures are walls connecting two regions oscillating in antiphase that form in the parameter domain where the sech soliton is unstable. Depending on the parameter set the oppositely phased domains can be either spatially uniform or patterned. Both chiral (Bloch) and nonchiral (Ising) walls are found, which bifurcate one into the other via an Ising-Bloch transition. While Ising walls are at rest Bloch walls move and may display secondary bifurcations leading to chaotic wall motion.     

Bloch domain walls in type II optical parametric oscillators

Evidence of Bloch domain walls in nonlinear optical systems is given. These walls are found in the transverse fields of optical parametric oscillators when the polarization degree of freedom, the cavity birefringence, and (or) dichroism are taken into account. These domain walls arise spontaneously and exhibit defects where Bloch walls of different chirality join together. Two dynamic regimes are found:In the first one the vector field approaches a final homogeneous state, and in the other the walls are continually generated and annihilated. This dynamic behavior is caused by the fact that walls of opposite chirality move spontaneously with opposite velocity.     

Domain wall effects in neutron depolarisation in Co-Cr films

The height and stripe width of the domains in Co-Cr films of 300 nm thickness is determined from angle-dependent 3-D neutron depolarisation. The effect on the data due to Bloch walls and due to domain walls identical with column boundaries is discussed. The maximum wall thickness derived is ≈ 2 and ≈ 30 nm, respectively.     

Transition micromagnetic structures in asymmetric vortexlike domain walls (Static solutions and dynamic reconstructions)

The possible types of transition structures with a three-dimensional magnetization distribution over regions in the vortex asymmetric domain walls that exist in magnetically uniaxial soft magnetic films with in-plane anisotropy are studied by computer simulation in terms of a micromagnetic approach. It is shown that the possible structure types include both the type of vertical Bloch lines that was discussed earlier in other works and new types, namely, singular (Bloch) points and clusters consisting of vertical Bloch lines and Bloch points. The spatial configurations of the transition structures are calculated and their topological properties are found. The numerical simulation of the dynamics of closely spaced substructure regions reveals various scenarios of their interaction, including annihilation accompanied by energy release and the excitation of nonlinear waves.     

The interaction energy of parallel Bloch walls

The paper gives an exact calculation of the interaction energy of parallel 180° Bloch walls of an unbounded uniaxial ferromagnetic as a function of their distance s and of the external field. The general relation, valid for a periodic domain structure, is specialised for the case of two Bloch walls.The author wishes to thank F. Kroupa and V. Janovec, of the Institute, for their valuable suggestions.     

Localization of matter and fermion resonances on double walls

We investigate the possibility of localizing various matter fields on the double walls. For spin 0 scalar field, massless zero mode can be normalized on the double walls. However, for spin 1 vector field, the zero mode is not localized on the double walls. In the paper [C.A.S. Almeida, M.M. Ferreira Jr., A.R. Gomes, R. Casana, arXiv:0901.3543 [hep-th]], the authors investigated fermion localization on a Bloch brane, especially, they found fermion resonances on the Bloch brane for both chiralities and related their appearance to branes with internal structure. Inspired by their work, for spin 1/2 spinor field, we focus our attention mainly on the fermion resonances, and also found fermion resonances for both left-handed fermions and right-handed ones on the double walls, which further supports the arguments presented in the paper [C.A.S. Almeida, M.M. Ferreira Jr., A.R. Gomes, R. Casana, arXiv:0901.3543 [hep-th]].     

Time development of magnetization

A simple model of Bloch wall motion is described for materials in which there exists a magnetic diffusion after-effect. The model is applied to the statistical system of independent Bloch walls. A qualitative explanation of the time development of magnetization in the d.c. magnetic field, based on this model, is given.     

Sudden critical current drops induced in S/F structures

In the search for new physical properties of S/F structures, we have found that the superconductor critical current can be controlled by the domain state of the neighboring ferromagnet. The superconductor is a thin wire of thickness d_s ≈2ξ_S. Nb/Co and Nb/Py (Permalloy Ni₈₀Fe₂₀) bilayer structures were grown with a significant magnetic anisotropy. Critical current measurements of Nb/Co structures with ferromagnet thickness d_F > 30 nm show sudden drops in two very defined steps when the measurements are made along the hard axes direction (i.e. current track parallel to hard anisotropy axes direction). These drops disappear when they are made along the easy axis direction or when the ferromagnet thickness is below 30 nm. The drops are accompanied by vortex flux flow. In addition magnetorestistance measurements close to T_C show a sharp increase near saturation fields of the ferromagnet. Similar results are reproduced in Nb/Py bilayer structure with the ferromagnet thickness d_F ~ 50 nm along the easy anisotropy axes. These results are explained as being due to spontaneous vortex formation and flow induced by Bloch domain walls of the ferromagnet underneath. We argue these Bloch domain walls produce a 2D vortex-antivortex lattice structure.     

Electric field distribution in biased GaAs microstructures with field-pinning layers

Field-pinning layers are an approach to improve the homogeneity of the electric field in a biased semiconductor structure of length above the Kroemer criterion. Building a THz Bloch oscillator with such a structure requires superlattice regions. Nevertheless, GaAs layers are investigated here. We compare different periodic structures (alternating transit and field-pinning layers) via simulating the field distribution. It is shown that the development of propagating Gunn domains is suppressed when field-pinning layers are included, but the homogeneity of the field is still not satisfying for the purpose of building a Bloch gain THz source. Depending on the temperature, intra- and inter-period inhomogeneities occur.     

Classical one-dimensional uniaxial ferromagnets: Role of Bloch walls in statistical mechanics

We study the conceptual features lying in low-temperature thermodynamic quantities of classical one-dimensional uniaxial ferromagnets. The phenomenological statistical mechanics of an ensemble of Bloch walls is shown to reproduce the non-spin wave part of the free energy obtained analytically on the basis of the functional integral methods. The longitudinal correlation length, which shows the Ising-like behaviour, is found inversely proportional to the concentration of Bloch walls.     

Experimental evidence of the magnetic moment of Bloch walls in garnet films

Differential susceptibility measurements in low in-plane fields showed up a new peak assumed to be caused by magnetization reversal inside the Bloch walls (BW). Highly sensitive measurements carried out subsequently on different domain structures yielded various new parameters such as the BW hysteresis curve, the integral saturated and remanent BW moments and the internal BW coercivity. The mechanism proposed for the observed phenomena is based on the reversible and irreversible motion of Bloch lines inside the Bloch walls.     

Temperature-independent silicon subwavelength grating waveguides

We demonstrate, by experiment and numerical calculations, temperature-independent subwavelength grating waveguides with a periodic composite core composed of alternating regions of silicon and SU-8 polymer. The polymer has a negative thermo-optic (TO) material coefficient that cancels the large positive TO effect of the silicon. Measurements and Bloch mode calculations were carried out over a range of silicon-polymer duty ratios. The lowest measured TO coefficient at a wavelength of 1550 nm is 1.8×10(-6) K(-1); 2 orders of magnitude smaller than a conventional silicon photonic wire waveguide. Calculations predict the possibility of complete cancellation of the silicon waveguide temperature dependence.     

Microstructure and bloch wall arrangement in 22 NiMoCr 3 7 steel

Starting from a simulated structural condition typical for the coarse-grained heat affected zone of welding joints, the changes of microstructure (residual stresses, grain structure, dislocations and precipitates) and of the arrangement of Bloch walls and domains caused by isothermal tempering (610°C/0.1–150 h) were examined using transmission electron microscopy. In the same way, the water quenched material (as-received) was also examined. The micrographs show that the arrangement of Bloch walls became clearer with increasing tempering time. This is correlated with a decrease in the dislocation density caused by recovery and recrystallization processes. Differences of the mobility of Bloch walls and the area traversed by single jumps of Bloch wall segments could be observed.     

Spiral patterns in magnets

An autowave model of the spiral pattern formation in magnets located in a rotating magnetic field is proposed. The model is based on the overdamped double sine-Gordon equation. Nucleation of spiral domains is associated with the averaged motion of domain walls in the rotating field. A vortex-type defect (Bloch line) is the core of the spiral.     

Observation of Bloch lines in yttrium orthoferrite

Utilizing the dark field method, parts of different brightness within domain walls of yttrium orthoferrite have been observed. Dark segments between these parts and the dependence of their positions on an applied magnetic field indicate the presence of Bloch lines.     

Interaction between superconducting vortices and a Bloch wall in ferrite garnet films

A theoretical model for how Bloch walls occurring in in-plane magnetized ferrite garnet films can serve as efficient magnetic micromanipulators is presented. As an example, the walls' interaction with Abrikosov vortices in a superconductor in close contact with a garnet film is analyzed within the London approximation. The model explains how vortices are attracted to such walls, and excellent quantitative agreement is obtained for the resulting peaked flux profile determined experimentally in NbSe(2) using high-resolution magneto-optical imaging of vortices. In particular, this model, when generalized to include charged magnetic walls, explains the counterintuitive attraction observed between vortices and a Bloch wall of opposite polarity.     

Transition micromagnetic structures in the Bloch and Néel asymmetric domain walls containing singular points

A three-dimensional computer simulation of transition structures separated from each other by regions of vortex asymmetric domain walls of the Bloch and Néel types in magnetically uniaxial permalloy films with in-plane anisotropy has been performed. The structures without localized magnetostatic poles on the surface of the film with one or two singular points have been investigated. It has been shown that the singular points and the vortex formations being elements of the domain walls can be considered as topological structures. A method has been proposed for visualizing the topology of magnetic configurations, which is based on the numerical determination of spatial distributions of topological charges of two types.     

Generation of mesoscopic magnetic structures by local laser action

New effects are observed wherein the internal structure of the domain walls in a thin magnetic iron garnet film are modified by the action of focused laser radiation. A single laser pulse with increasing power gives rise to the following: 1) displacement of vertical Bloch lines in a domain wall; 2) generation of a pair of vertical Bloch lines on initially line-free walls; and, 3) an irreversible change in shape of a domain wall and the domain structure as a whole. The mechanism leading to the generation and displacement of Bloch lines is connected with the motion of domain walls which is induced by a local change in the distribution of demagnetizing fields as a result of a heating-induced decrease of the magnetization in the focal spot of the laser radiation. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 6, 398–402 (25 September 1997)