67 research outputs found
SPEEM: The photoemission microscope at the dedicated microfocus PGM beamline UE49-PGMa at BESSY II
The UE49-PGMa beamline hosts a photoemission electron microscope (PEEM) dedicated to spectromicroscopy and element-selective magnetic imaging on the nanometer scale. The instrument is an Elmitec PEEM III equipped with energy filter and Helium cooled manipulator. Laser driven excitations can be studied using an attached Ti:Sa laser. A variety of customized sample holders is available for imaging in moderate magnetic / electric field, temperature control, or local laser excitations. With x-rays the instrument is capable of 30 nm spatial resolution
Influence of magnetic field and ferromagnetic film thickness on domain pattern transfer in multiferroic heterostructures
Domains in BaTiO induces a regular modulation of uniaxial magnetic
anisotropy in CoFeB via an inverse magnetostriction effect. As a result, the
domain structures of the CoFeB wedge film and BaTiO substrate correlate
fully and straight ferroelectric domain boundaries in BaTiO pin magnetic
domain walls in CoFeB. We use x-ray photoemission electron microscopy and
magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy to characterize the spin structure of
the pinned domain walls. In a rotating magnetic field, abrupt and reversible
transitions between two domain wall types occur, namely, narrow walls where the
magnetization vectors align head-to-tail and much broader walls with
alternating head-to-head and tail-to-tail magnetization configurations. We
characterize variations of the domain wall spin structure as a function of
magnetic field strength and CoFeB film thickness and compare the experimental
results with micromagnetic simulations.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
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Retrieving spin textures on curved magnetic thin films with full-field soft X-ray microscopies
X-ray tomography is a well-established technique to characterize 3D structures in material sciences and biology; its magnetic analogue--magnetic X-ray tomography--is yet to be developed. Here we demonstrate the visualization and reconstruction of magnetic domain structures in a 3D curved magnetic thin films with tubular shape by means of full-field soft X-ray microscopies. The 3D arrangement of the magnetization is retrieved from a set of 2D projections by analysing the evolution of the magnetic contrast with varying projection angle. Using reconstruction algorithms to analyse the angular evolution of 2D projections provides quantitative information about domain patterns and magnetic coupling phenomena between windings of azimuthally and radially magnetized tubular objects. The present approach represents a first milestone towards visualizing magnetization textures of 3D curved thin films with virtually arbitrary shape
Strain-gradient-induced magnetic anisotropy in straight-stripe mixed-phase bismuth ferrites: An insight into flexomagnetic phenomenon
Implementation of antiferromagnetic compounds as active elements in
spintronics has been hindered by their insensitive nature against external
perturbations which causes difficulties in switching among different
antiferromagnetic spin configurations. Electrically-controllable strain
gradient can become a key parameter to tune the antiferromagnetic states of
multiferroic materials. We have discovered a correlation between an
electrically-written straight-stripe mixed-phase boundary and an in-plane
antiferromagnetic spin axis in highly-elongated La-5%-doped BiFeO thin
films by performing polarization-dependent photoemission electron microscopy in
conjunction with cluster model calculations. Model Hamiltonian calculation for
the single-ion anisotropy including the spin-orbit interaction has been
performed to figure out the physical origin of the link between the strain
gradient present in the mixed phase area and its antiferromagnetic spin axis.
Our findings enable estimation of the strain-gradient-induced magnetic
anisotropy energy per Fe ion at around 510 eV m, and provide a
new pathway towards an electric-field-induced 90 rotation of
antiferromagnetic spin axis at room temperature by flexomagnetism.Comment: 32 pages, 5 figure
Paleomagnetic evidence for dynamo activity driven by inward crystallisation of a metallic asteroid
The direction in which a planetary core solidifies has fundamental implications for the feasibility and nature of dynamo generation. Although Earth's core is outwardly solidifying, the cores of certain smaller planetary bodies have been proposed to inwardly solidify due to their lower central pressures. However, there have been no unambiguous observations of inwardly solidified cores or the relationship between this solidification regime and planetary magnetic activity. To address this gap, we present the results of complimentary paleomagnetic techniques applied to the matrix metal and silicate inclusions within the IVA iron meteorites. This family of meteorites has been suggested to originate from a planetary core that had its overlaying silicate mantle removed by collisions during the early solar system. This process is thought to have produced a molten ball of metal that cooled rapidly and has been proposed to have inwardly solidified. Recent thermal evolution models of such a body predict that it should have generated an intense, multipolar and time-varying dynamo field. This field could have been recorded as a remanent magnetisation in the outer, cool layers of a solid crust on the IVA parent core. We find that the different components in the IVA iron meteorites display a range of paleomagnetic fidelities, depending crucially on the cooling rate of the meteorite. In particular, silicate inclusions in the quickly cooled São João Nepomuceno meteorite are poor paleomagnetic recorders. On the other hand, the matrix metal and some silicate subsamples from the relatively slowly cooled Steinbach meteorite are far better paleomagnetic recorders and provide evidence of an intense (≳100 μT) and directionally varying (exhibiting significant changes on a timescale ≲200 kyr) magnetic field. This is the first demonstration that some iron meteorites record ancient planetary magnetic fields. Furthermore, the observed field intensity, temporal variability and dynamo lifetime are consistent with thermal evolution models of the IVA parent core. Because the acquisition of remanent magnetisation by some IVA iron meteorites require that they cooled below their Curie temperature during the period of dynamo activity, the magnetisation carried by Steinbach also provides strong evidence favouring the inward solidification of its parent core
Pallasite paleomagnetism: Quiescence of a core dynamo
Recent paleomagnetic studies of two Main Group pallasites, the Imilac and Esquel, have found evidence for a strong, late-stage magnetic field on the parent body. It has been hypothesized that this magnetic field was generated by a core dynamo, driven by compositional convection during core solidification. Cooling models suggest that the onset of core solidification occurred ∼200 Ma after planetary accretion. Prior to core solidification, a core dynamo may have been generated by thermal convection; however a thermal dynamo is predicted to be short-lived, with a duration of ∼10 Ma to ∼40 Ma after planetary accretion. These models predict, therefore, a period of quiescence between the thermally driven dynamo and the compositionally driven dynamo, when no core dynamo should be active. To test this hypothesis, we have measured the magnetic remanence recorded by the Marjalahti and Brenham pallasites, which based on cooling-rate data locked in any magnetic field signals present ∼95 Ma to ∼135 Ma after planetary accretion, before core solidification began. The cloudy zone, a region of nanoscale tetrataenite islands within a Fe-rich matrix was imaged using X-ray photoemission electron microscopy. The recovered distribution of magnetisation within the cloudy zone suggests that the Marjalahti and Brenham experienced a very weak magnetic field, which may have been induced by a crustal remanence, consistent with the predicted lack of an active core dynamo at this time. We show that the transition from a quiescent period to an active, compositionally driven dynamo has a distinctive paleomagnetic signature, which may be a crucial tool for constraining the time of core solidification on differentiated bodies, including Earth
Influence of magnetic domain walls on all-optical magnetic toggle switching in a ferrimagnetic GdFe film
We present a microscopic magnetic domain imaging study of single-shot all-optical magnetic toggle switching of a ferrimagnetic Gd(26)Fe(74) film with out-of-plane easy axis of magnetization by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoelectron emission microscopy. Individual linearly polarized laser pulses of 800 nm wavelength and 100 fs duration above a certain threshold fluence reverse the sample magnetization, independent of the magnetization direction, the so-called toggle switching. Local deviations from this deterministic behavior close to magnetic domain walls are studied in detail. Reasons for nondeterministic toggle switching are related to extrinsic effects, caused by pulse-to-pulse variations of the exciting laser system, and to intrinsic effects related to the magnetic domain structure of the sample. The latter are, on the one hand, caused by magnetic domain wall elasticity, which leads to a reduction of the domain-wall length at features with sharp tips. These features appear after the optical switching at positions where the line of constant threshold fluence in the Gaussian footprint of the laser pulse comes close to an already existing domain wall. On the other hand, we identify the presence of laser-induced domain-wall motion in the toggle-switching event as a further cause for local deviations from purely deterministic toggle switching
Direct observation of the band gap transition in atomically thin ReS
ReS is considered as a promising candidate for novel electronic and
sensor applications. The low crystal symmetry of the van der Waals compound
ReS leads to a highly anisotropic optical, vibrational, and transport
behavior. However, the details of the electronic band structure of this
fascinating material are still largely unexplored. We present a
momentum-resolved study of the electronic structure of monolayer, bilayer, and
bulk ReS using k-space photoemission microscopy in combination with
first-principles calculations. We demonstrate that the valence electrons in
bulk ReS are - contrary to assumptions in recent literature - significantly
delocalized across the van der Waals gap. Furthermore, we directly observe the
evolution of the valence band dispersion as a function of the number of layers,
revealing a significantly increased effective electron mass in single-layer
crystals. We also find that only bilayer ReS has a direct band gap. Our
results establish bilayer ReS as a advantageous building block for
two-dimensional devices and van der Waals heterostructures
Variations in the magnetic properties of meteoritic cloudy zone
Iron and stony‐iron meteorites form the Widmanstätten pattern during slow cooling. This pattern is composed of several microstructures whose length‐scale, composition and magnetic properties are dependent upon cooling rate. Here we focus on the cloudy zone: a region containing nanoscale tetrataenite islands with exceptional paleomagnetic recording properties. We present a systematic review of how cloudy zone properties vary with cooling rate and proximity to the adjacent tetrataenite rim. X‐ray photoemission electron microscopy is used to compare compositional and magnetization maps of the cloudy zone in the mesosiderites (slow cooling rates), the IAB iron meteorites and the pallasites (intermediate cooling rates), and the IVA iron meteorites (fast cooling rates). The proportions of magnetic phases within the cloudy zone are also characterized using Mössbauer spectroscopy. We present the first observations of the magnetic state of the cloudy zone in the mesosiderites, showing that, for such slow cooling rates, tetrataenite islands grow larger than the multidomain threshold, creating large‐scale regions of uniform magnetization across the cloudy zone that render it unsuitable for paleomagnetic analysis. For the most rapidly cooled IVA meteorites, the time available for Fe‐Ni ordering is insufficient to allow tetrataenite formation, again leading to behavior that is unsuitable for paleomagnetic analysis. The most reliable paleomagnetic remanence is recorded by meteorites with intermediate cooling rates ( urn:x-wiley:ggge:media:ggge22125:ggge22125-math-0001 2–500 °C Myr urn:x-wiley:ggge:media:ggge22125:ggge22125-math-0002) which produces islands that are “just right” in both size and degree of Fe‐Ni order
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