Antiferromagnetic Domain Wall Engineering in Chromium Films

ORAL

Abstract

We have engineered an antiferromagnetic domain wall by utilizing a magnetic frustration effect of a thin iron cap layer deposited on a chromium film. Through lithography and wet etching we selectively removed areas of the Fe cap layer to form a patterned ferromagnetic mask over the Cr film. Removing the Fe locally removes magnetic frustration in user-defined regions of the Cr film. We present x-ray microdiffraction results confirming the formation of an antiferromagnetic spin-density wave propagation domain wall in Cr. This domain wall nucleates at the boundary defined by our Fe mask. We have characterized the region surrounding the domain wall using x-ray microdiffraction and microfluorescence with a resolution of 1 micron.

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Authors

  • Jonathan Logan

    University of Chicago

  • Hyekyung Kim

    University of Chicago

  • Eric Isaacs

    Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory; University of Chicago

  • Oleg Shpyrko

    Department of Physics, University of California-San Diego, University of California, San Diego, Department of Physics, UC San Diego, University of California San Diego

  • Daniel Rosenmann

    Argonne National Laboratory, Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory

  • Zhonghou Cai

    Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Advance Photon Source-Argonne National Laboratory

  • Ralu Divan

    Argonne National Laboratory, Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory