563 research outputs found
Spin-wave chirality and its manifestations in antiferromagnets
As first demonstrated by Tang and Cohen in chiral optics, the asymmetry in
the rate of electromagnetic energy absorption between left and right
enantiomers is determined by an optical chirality density [1]. Here, we
demonstrate that this effect can exist in magnetic spin systems. By
constructing a formal analogy with electrodynamics, we show that in
antiferromagnets with broken chiral symmetry the asymmetry in local spin-wave
energy absorption is proportional to a spin-wave chirality density, which is a
direct counterpart of optical zilch. We propose that injection of a pure spin
current into an antiferromagnet may serve as a chiral symmetry breaking
mechanism, since its effect in the spin-wave approximation can be expressed in
terms of additional Lifshitz invariants. We use linear response theory to show
that the spin current induces a nonequilibrium spin-wave chirality density.Comment: 6 pages (plus Supplemental Material, 6 pages), 1 figure, published
versio
Exchange bias and training effects in antiferromagnetically coupled La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 / SrRuO3 superlattices
Exchange bias (EB) and the training effects (TE) in an antiferromagnetically
coupled La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 / SrRuO3 superlattices were studied in the temperature
range 1.8 - 150 K. Strong antiferromagnetic (AFM) interlayer coupling is
evidenced from AC - susceptibility measurements. Below 100 K, vertical
magnetization shifts are present due to the two remanent states corresponding
to the two ferromagnetic (FM) layers at FM and AFM coupling condition. After
field cooling (FC), significant decrease in the exchange bias field (HEB) is
observed when cycling the system through several consecutive hysteresis loops.
Quantitative analysis for the variation of HEB vs. number of field cycles (n)
indicates an excellent agreement between the theory, based on triggered
relaxation phenomena, and our experimental observations. Nevertheless, the
crucial fitting parameter K indicates smooth training effect upon repeated
field cycling, in accordance with our observation.Comment: Accepted Europhysics Letter
Cavity Optomechanics of Topological Spin Textures in Magnetic Insulators
Collective dynamics of topological magnetic textures can be thought of as a
massive particle moving in a magnetic pinning potential. We demonstrate that
inside a cavity resonator this effective mechanical system can feel the
electromagnetic radiation pressure from cavity photons through the
magneto-optical inverse Faraday and Cotton-Mouton effects. We estimate values
for the effective parameters of the optomechanical coupling for two spin
textures -- a Bloch domain wall and a chiral magnetic soliton lattice. The
soliton lattice has magnetic chirality, so that in circularly polarized light
it behaves like a chiral particle with the sign of the optomechanical coupling
determined by the helicity of the light and chirality of the lattice. Most
interestingly, we find a level attraction regime for the soliton lattice, which
is tunable through an applied magnetic field.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, published versio
Excitation of magnon spin photocurrents in antiferromagnetic insulators
In the circular photogalvanic effect, circularly polarized light can produce
a direct electron photocurrent in metals and the direction of the current
depends on the polarization. We suggest that an analogous nonlinear effect
exists for antiferromagnetic insulators wherein the total spin of light and
spin waves is conserved. In consequence, a spin angular momentum is expected to
be transfered from photons to magnons so that a circularly polarized
electromagnetic field will generate a direct magnon spin current. The direction
of the current is determined by the helicity of the light. We show that this
resonant effect appears as a second order light-matter interaction. We find
also a geometric contribution to the spin photocurrent, which appears for
materials with complex lattice structures and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya
interactions.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, published versio
Melting of hexagonal skyrmion states in chiral magnets
Skyrmions are spiral structures observed in thin films of certain magnetic materials (Uchida et al 2006 Science 311 359–61). Of the phases allowed by the crystalline symmetries of these materials (Yi et al 2009 Phys. Rev. B 80 054416), only the hexagonally packed phases (SCh) have been observed. Here the melting of the SCh phase is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. In addition to the usual measure of skyrmion density, chiral charge, a morphological measure is considered. In doing so it is shown that the low-temperature reduction in chiral charge is associated with a change in skyrmion profiles rather than skyrmion destruction. At higher temperatures, the loss of six-fold symmetry is associated with the appearance of elongated skyrmions that disrupt the hexagonal packing
Theoretical simulation of the anisotropic phases of antiferromagnetic thin films
We simulate antiferromagnetic thin films. Dipole-dipole and antiferromagnetic
exchange interactions as well as uniaxial and quadrupolar anisotropies are
taken into account. Various phases unfold as the corresponding parameters, J, D
and C, as well as the temperature T and the number n of film layers vary. We
find (1) how the strength Delta_m of the anisotropy arising from dipole-dipole
interactions varies with the number of layers m away from the film's surface,
with J and with n; (2) a unified phase diagram for all n-layer films and bulk
systems; (3) a layer dependent spin reorientation (SR) phase in which spins
rotate continuously as T, D, C and n vary; (4) that the ratio of the SR to the
ordering temperature depends (approximately) on n only through (D+Delta/n)/C,
and hardly on J; (5) a phase transformation between two different magnetic
orderings, in which spin orientations may or may not change, for some values of
J, by varying n.Comment: 10 LaTeX pages, 13 eps figures. Submitted to PRB on 30 June 2006.
Accepted on 10 October 200
A Circuit Model for Domain Walls in Ferromagnetic Nanowires: Application to Conductance and Spin Transfer Torques
We present a circuit model to describe the electron transport through a
domain wall in a ferromagnetic nanowire. The domain wall is treated as a
coherent 4-terminal device with incoming and outgoing channels of spin up and
down and the spin-dependent scattering in the vicinity of the wall is modelled
using classical resistances. We derive the conductance of the circuit in terms
of general conductance parameters for a domain wall. We then calculate these
conductance parameters for the case of ballistic transport through the domain
wall, and obtain a simple formula for the domain wall magnetoresistance which
gives a result consistent with recent experiments. The spin transfer torque
exerted on a domain wall by a spin-polarized current is calculated using the
circuit model and an estimate of the speed of the resulting wall motion is
made.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; submitted to Physical Review
Theory for nucleation at an interface and magnetization reversal of a two-layer nanowire
Nucleation at the interface between two adjoining regions with dissimilar physical properties is investigated using a model for magnetization reversal of a two-layer ferromagnetic nanowire. Each layer of the nanowire is considered to have a different degree of magnetic anisotropy, representing a hard magnetic layer exchange-coupled to a softer layer. A magnetic field applied along the easy axis causes the softer layer to reverse, forming a domain wall close to the interface. For small applied fields this state is metastable and complete reversal of the nanowire takes place via activation over a barrier. A reversal mechanism involving nucleation at an interface is proposed, whereby a domain wall changes in width as it passes from the soft layer to the hard layer during activation. Langer’s statistical theory for the decay of a metastable state is used to derive rates of magnetization reversal, and simple formulas are found in limiting cases for the activation energy, rate of reversal, and critical field at which the metastable state becomes unstable. These formulas depend on the anisotropy difference between each layer, and the behavior of the reversal rate prefactor is interpreted in terms of activation entropy and domain-wall dynamics
Dipolar ground state of planar spins on triangular lattices
An infinite triangular lattice of classical dipolar spins is usually
considered to have a ferromagnetic ground state. We examine the validity of
this statement for finite lattices and in the limit of large lattices. We find
that the ground state of rectangular arrays is strongly dependent on size and
aspect ratio. Three results emerge that are significant for understanding the
ground state properties: i) formation of domain walls is energetically favored
for aspect ratios below a critical valu e; ii) the vortex state is always
energetically favored in the thermodynamic limit of an infinite number of
spins, but nevertheless such a configuration may not be observed even in very
large lattices if the aspect ratio is large; iii) finite range approximations
to actual dipole sums may not provide the correct ground sta te configuration
because the ferromagnetic state is linearly unstable and the domain wall energy
is negative for any finite range cutoff.Comment: Several short parts have been rewritten. Accepted for publication as
a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev.
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