Magnetostrictive domain walls in antiferromagnetic NiO

We report high-resolution observations of antiferromagnetic (AF) domain walls at the surface of NiO and determine the typical width of AF walls in this material to be of the order of 150 nm. We observe a number of different types of domain walls, including double walls caused by long-range interaction between walls. We describe the observed wall profiles by a model containing the exchange interaction and magnetostriction as basic ingredients. The good agreement of this model with experiment shows that the formation of walls between antiferromagnetic domains in NiO and their properties are dominated by magnetoelastic interactions.     

Structure and interaction of antiferromagnetic domain walls in hexagonal YMnO3

The structure of antiferromagnetic (AFM) domain walls and their interaction with lattice strain are derived taking the multiple-order-parameter compound YMnO3 as a model example. Contrary to the conviction that AFM domain walls are energetically unfavorable, their interaction with lattice strain lowers the total energy of the system and leads to a piezomagnetic clamping of the electric and magnetic order parameters in good agreement with the available experimental data.     

Dynamics of antiferromagnetic vortices in yttrium orthoferrite domain walls

The total velocity of solitary flexural waves nonlinearly increases with an increase in the velocity of domain walls and becomes saturated at a level of 20 km s^?1; the smaller the wave amplitude, the more rapidly saturation occurs. Counter collisions of solitary flexural waves lead to the formation of a single wave with a difference amplitude moving in the same direction as the wave with a larger amplitude. The experimental results confirm that solitary flexural waves accompany antiferromagnetic vortices at domain walls in yttrium orthoferrite.     

Microscopic and macroscopic signatures of antiferromagnetic domain walls

Magnetotransport measurements on small single crystals of Cr, the elemental antiferromagnet, reveal the hysteretic thermodynamics of the domain structure. The temperature dependence of the transport coefficients is directly correlated with the real-space evolution of the domain configuration as recorded by x-ray microprobe imaging, revealing the effect of antiferromagnetic domain walls on electron transport. A single antiferromagnetic domain wall interface resistance is deduced to be of order 5 x 10(-5) mu Omega cm(2) at a temperature of 100 K.     

Indirect control of antiferromagnetic domain walls with spin current

The indirect controlled displacement of an antiferromagnetic domain wall by a spin current is studied by Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert spin dynamics. The antiferromagnetic domain wall can be shifted both by a spin-polarized tunnel current of a scanning tunneling microscope or by a current driven ferromagnetic domain wall in an exchange coupled antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic layer system. The indirect control of antiferromagnetic domain walls opens up a new and promising direction for future spin device applications based on antiferromagnetic materials.     

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in antiferromagnetic RbMnF3

The ⁸⁷Rb and ¹⁹F nuclear relaxation rates in antiferromagnetic RbMnF₃ are calculated as a function of temperature. The large difference in the relaxation rates of both nuclei as well as their temperature dependences are well accounted for over a considerable temperature range by a two-magnon process induced by the dipolar and “contact” parts of the hyperfine interaction.     

Magnetization of a terbium single crystal in the antiferromagnetic region

Magnetization measurements in the basal plane as a function of field and temperature, on a single crystal of terbium, between the temperatures 221 K and 229 K are described. An attempt is made to interpret the results in terms of the theory of Kitano et al. Whereas this theory deals rather deftly with the results on dysprosium which is magnetically a very similar metal it fails in many respects on terbium. It would appear that the interactions between atoms in adjacent layers are more complex than theory has thus far assumed.     

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation due to dissipative domain walls

The influence of the dissipative motion of domain walls in the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate is studied as a function of the external magnetic field and the temperature. Although only the specific case of the TMMC antiferromagnet below T_N is presented, the results are valid for all magnets described within the semiclassical approach by a double sine-Gordon equation for the spin degree of freedom.     

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in single domain particles

Small precipitates of bcc Fe were made by tempering foils of Cu₆₉Au₃₀Fe₁ and Cu₆₇Au₃₀Fe₃. By Mö\bauer source experiments using⁵⁷Fe, hyperfine fields and particle sizes, deduced from their superparamagnetism, were investigated. Nuclear spin lattice relaxation (SLR) was measured by nuclear orientation and thermal cycling method. We found an increase in SLR rates with decreasing external magnetic field and a drastic increase with decreasing particle size. This may be explained by a uniformly fluctuating particle magnetization.     

Generation and gyroscopic quasi-relativistic dynamics of antiferromagnetic vortices in domain walls of yttrium orthoferrite

An unusual nonlinear relation between the velocity of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) vortex along a domain wall (DW) on the DW velocity is detected. This relation has a maximum whose position depends on the topological charge of the vortex. As the DW velocity increases from the value corresponding to the maximum to its limiting value, the AFM-vortex velocity decreases and tends to zero. The total AFM-vortex velocity increases nonlinearly with the DW velocity and levels off at 20 km/s, which is equal to the velocity of spin waves in the linear section of their dispersion law. The experimental data are approximated satisfactorily. The dynamics of AFM vortices in DWs of yttrium orthoferrite, just as the dynamics of the DWs, is quasi-relativistic and gyroscopic.     

Spontaneous surface magnetisation of single crystal MnF2 in the antiferromagnetic state

Spontaneous magnetisation of (100) and (010) surfaces of single crystal MnF₂ in the antiferromagnetic state has been discovered. The sign of the surface magnetisation is determined by the difference in dielectric constants of MnF₂ and ambient matter: magnetisation is directed to the substance with smaller . Received 28 August 1998 and Received in final form 15 December 1998     

Paramagnetic relaxation of Er in an Er single crystal

The paramagnetic relaxation of Er in an Er single crystal was measured atT≫T _N and compared to the relaxation of Er ions in a polycrystalline Pb host. The results indicate an enhancement of at most 50% of the f-conduction electron exchange interaction in Er, as expected for highly ionic f-orbitals. The ratio of the quadrupole moments of the¹⁵⁴ Er(I ^π=11⁻) and the¹⁵⁵ Er(I ^π=13/2⁺) isomers was measured to be 1.18(3) indicating onset of nuclear deformation at N=87. Deceased May, 1986     

Creep and relaxation dynamics of domain walls in periodically poled KTiOPO4

Creep and relaxation of domain walls under ac electric fields are observed in an ideal model system, periodically poled KTiOPO4, to occur in different regimes, which are separated by dynamic phase transitions at frequencies f(m)(T)=f(m0)exp((-DeltaE/k(B)T), with f(m0)=3 x 10(9) Hz and DeltaE=0.6 eV. Power law dispersion of the creep susceptibility, chi proportional to 1+(iomegatau)(-beta), with beta approximately equal to 0.4, and large nonlinearity encountered at f < f(m), is contrasted with Cole-Cole-type relaxational dispersion, chi proportional to (1+[iomegatau](1-alpha))(-1), with alpha approximately 0.3, at f > f(m).     

Magnetotransport at domain walls in BiFeO3

Domain walls in multiferroics can exhibit intriguing behaviors that are significantly different from the bulk of the material. We investigate strong magnetoresistance in domain walls of the model multiferroic BiFeO3 by probing ordered arrays of 109° domain walls with temperature- and magnetic-field-dependent transport. We observe temperature-dependent variations in the transport mechanism and magnetoresistances as large as 60%. These results suggest that by locally breaking the symmetry of a material, such as at domain walls and structural interfaces, one can induce emergent behavior with properties that deviate significantly from the bulk.     

Ferromagnetic resonance and relaxation in single crystal metal films

We review the results of oblique-angle ferromagnetic resonance experiments in single-crystal metal films, and compare them with recent calculations for oblique-angle resonance based on isotropic metals and on anisotropic insulators with magnetoelastic interactions.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation.We are please to acknowledge the contributions of our colleagues J. L. Bleustein, T. Kobayashi, and C. Vittoria.     

Quantum domain walls in the one-dimensional Ising model in a transverse field

Within the exactly soluble spin-$\text{1}\text{2}$ Ising chain in a transverse field, wavefunctions are identified which correspond to the domain wall-type solutions in the related classical model. For these wavefunctions the energy expectation values and longitudinal spin correlations are evaluated exactly. The results are used to comment on the relation between the quantum and classical domain walls.