Magnetic structures of δ\delta-O2_2 resulting from competition of interplane exchange interactions

Solid oxygen is a unique molecular crystal whose phase diagram is mostly imposed by magnetic ordering, i.e., each crystal phase has a specific magnetic structure. However, recent experiments showed that high-pressure $\delta$-phase is implemented in different magnetic structures. In the present paper we study the role of interplane exchange interactions in formation of the magnetic structures with different stacking sequences of the close-packed planes. We show that temperature-induced variation of intermolecular distances can give rise to compensation of the exchange coupling between the nearest close-packed planes and result in the phase transition between different magnetic structures within $\delta$-O$_2$. Variation of the magnetic ordering is, in turn, accompanied by the step-wise variation of interplane distance governed by space and angular dependence of interplane exchange constants.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Optical determination of the Néel vector in a CuMnAs thin-film antiferromagnet

Recent breakthroughs in electrical detection and manipulation of antiferromagnets have opened a new avenue in the research of non-volatile spintronic devices.1-10 Antiparallel spin sublattices in antiferromagnets, producing zero dipolar fields, lead to the insensitivity to magnetic field perturbations, multi-level stability, ultrafast spin dynamics and other favorable characteristics which may find utility in fields ranging from magnetic memories to optical signal processing. However, the absence of a net magnetic moment and the ultra-short magnetization dynamics timescales make antiferromagnets notoriously difficult to study by common magnetometers or magnetic resonance techniques. In this paper we demonstrate the experimental determination of the Néel vector in a thin film of antiferromagnetic CuMnAs9,10 which is the prominent material used in the first realization of antiferromagnetic memory chips.10 We employ a femtosecond pump-probe magneto-optical experiment based on magnetic linear dichroism. This table-top optical method is considerably more accessible than the traditionally employed large scale facility techniques like neutron diffraction11 and Xray magnetic dichroism measurements.12-14 This optical technique allows an unambiguous direct determination of the Néel vector orientation in thin antiferromagnetic films utilized in devices directly from measured data without fitting to a theoretical model