Melting artificial spin ice

Artificial spin ice arrays of micromagnetic islands are a means of engineering additional energy scales and frustration into magnetic materials. Despite much progress in elucidating the properties of such arrays, the `spins' in the systems studied so far have no thermal dynamics as the kinetic constraints are too high. Here we address this problem by using a material with an ordering temperature near room temperature. By measuring the temperature dependent magnetization in different principal directions, and comparing with simulations of idealized statistical mechanical models, we confirm a dynamical `pre-melting' of the artificial spin ice structure at a temperature well below the intrinsic ordering temperature of the island material. We thus create a spin ice array that has real thermal dynamics of the artificial spins over an extended temperature range

Uncovering Magnetic Order in Nanostructured Disordered Materials : A Study of Amorphous Magnetic Layered Structures

The scope of this thesis is the study of the interplay between structure and magnetism in amorphous materials. The investigations focus on the growth of amorphous layers and the study of the influence of structural disorder and reduced physical extension on the magnetic properties of thin films and multilayers. The examined magnetic materials are FeZr alloys, as well as other amorphous transition metal alloys such as CoZr and FeCoZr. Thin films and multilayers of the studied materials were deposited using magnetron sputtering in ultra-high vacuum conditions. Their amorphous structure and layering quality was investigated using X-ray scattering techniques and in several cases with transmission electron microscopy. The chemical composition of the alloys was determined with Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. The magnetic properties were investigated using the magneto-optic Kerr effect and SQUID magnetometry, as well as polarized neutron reflectometry and X-ray magnetic circular dicroism measurements. For FeZr alloys deposited as multilayers with Al2O3 as spacer layer, it was found that Fe-rich nanocrystallites, formed at the metal/oxide interfaces, exert large influence on the magnetic properties. The use of AlZr alloys as buffer layers promotes the growth of highly amorphous FeZr layers. FeZr/AlZr multilayers with good layering quality can also be obtained. The influence of the reduced layer thickness on the magnetic moment, Curie temperature and magnetic dimensionality of the magnetic layers is addressed for FeZr/AlZr multilayers. Thin FeZr layers in these structures are found to belong to the 2D XY dimensionality class. The change of the magnetic moment and Curie temperature with reduced FeZr layer thickness is quantified. In addition, the induced magnetic moment in the alloy element Zr was investigated in FeZr and CoZr alloy films. The possibility to imprint a preferred magnetization direction during thin film preparation was demonstrated for FeCoZr layers. Lastly, AlZr alloy films were studied with respect to their oxidation stability at room and elevated temperatures, aiming towards development of materials with passivating properties

Effect of ferromagnetic proximity on critical behavior

We have investigated the magnetic phase transition in amorphous Fe93Zr7(x angstrom)/Co95Zr5(1 angstrom) multilayers, where x = 25, 50, and 75. The extremely thin CoZr layer induces magnetic order at temperatures well above the inherent ordering temperature of Fe93Zr7. The changes in the critical exponent beta, associated with the temperature dependence of the magnetization, imply a crossover from two-to three-dimensional behavior as the FeZr thickness is reduced, consistent with a substantial magnetic induction in the FeZr layers. In addition we determined the exponents delta and gamma, of the critical isotherm and the susceptibility, respectively, and their values confirm the nonuniversal character of the phase transition. Scaling of the results yields an excellent data collapse and is found to hold in the crossover regime where the universality hypothesis is not applicable.

Morphology of amorphous Fe91Zr9/Al2O3 multilayers : Dewetting and crystallization

Amorphous Fe91Zr9/Al2O3 multilayers grown by magnetron sputtering have been studied using x-ray reflectometry, x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy. It could be demonstrated that on the interface between the Fe91Zr9 and the Al2O3, crystalline grains are formed, that for very small repetition thicknesses destroy the periodicity of the multilayers by accumulative roughness. Understanding these effects would enable substantial improvement of the quality of nanolaminated amorphous layers

Structural, electronic and magnetic properties of YMnO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 heterostructures

Heterostructures with competing magnetic interactions are often exploited for their tailored new functionalities. Exchange bias is one such outcome of interfacial coupling across ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic, multiferroic-ferromagnetic, two antiferromagnetic, or antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic interfaces. Apart from the usual horizontal shift of the hysteresis loop (exchange bias shift), a small `vertical shift´ of the hysteresis loops along the magnetization axis has also been seen, but it was always relatively small. Recently, an unusually large `vertical shift´ in epitaxial bilayer heterostructures comprising ferromagnetic La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 and multiferroic orthorhombic YMnO3 layers was reported. Here, using polarized neutron reflectometry, the magnetic proximity effect in such bilayers has been investigated. A detailed magnetic depth profile at the interface, elucidating the intrinsic nature of the vertical shift in such heterostructures, is reported. Further corroboration of this observation has been made by means of first-principles calculations, and the structural and electronic properties of YMnO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 heterostructures are studied. Although in the bulk, the ground state of YMnO3 is an E-type antiferromagnet, the YMnO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 heterostructure stabilizes the ferromagnetic phase in YMnO3 in the interface region. It is found that, in the hypothetical ferromagnetic phase of bulk YMnO3, the polarization is suppressed, and owing to a large difference between the lattice constants in the ab plane a strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy is present. This anisotropy produces a high coercivity of the unusual ferromagnetic YMnO3 phase at the interface, which is responsible for the large vertical shift observed in experiment.Fil: Paul, Amitesh. Technische Universitat Munchen; AlemaniaFil: Zandalazini, Carlos Ivan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (i); Argentina. University of Leipzig; AlemaniaFil: Esquinazi, Pablo. University Of Leipzig; AlemaniaFil: Autieri, Carmine. Uppsala University. Department Of Physics And Astronomy; SueciaFil: Sanyal, Biplab. Uppsala University. Department Of Physics And Astronomy; SueciaFil: Korelis, Panagiotis. Paul Scherrer Institut; SuizaFil: Böni, Peter. Technische Universitat Munchen; Alemani

Correlation between iron self-diffusion and thermal stability in doped iron nitride thin films

Nanocrystalline Fe-X-N thin films (with doping X = 0, 3.1 at. % Al, 1.6 at. % Zr), were deposited using reactive ion beam sputtering. Magnetization study reveals that the deposited films exhibit a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Thermal stability of the films was investigated systematically and it was observed that the structural and the magnetic stability gets significantly enhanced with Al doping, whereas Zr doping has only a marginal effect. Fe self-diffusion, obtained using polarized neutron reflectivity, shows a suppression with both additives. A correlation between the thermal stability and the diffusion process gives a direct evidence that the enhancement in the thermal stability is primarily diffusion controlled. A combined picture of diffusion, structural, and magnetic stability has been drawn to understand the obtained results

Violation of Hund’s third rule in structurally disordered ferromagnets

Violation of Hund’s third rule caused by structural disorder is observed for the induced magnetic moment of Zr, using X-ray magnetic circular dischroism. The induced spin and orbital magnetic moments are anti-parallel in the crystalline state, but parallel in an amorphous state of the investi- gated Co- and Fe-based materials. First principles calculations are used to provide physical insight into the dependency of the spin-orbit coupling on the interatomic distance and coordination number

Thermal transitions in nano-patterned XY-magnets

We have fabricated ultra-thin disc shaped islands wherein shape anisotropy confines the moment to the island plane, creating XY-like superspins. At low temperatures, the superspins are blocked, and, as the temperature is increased, they undergo a transition into a superparamagnetic state. The onset of this dynamic superspin state scales with the diameter of the islands, and it persists up to a temperature governed by the intrinsic ordering temperature of the island material defining a range in temperature in which dynamic behavior of the magnetic islands can be obtained