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Title: Antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic phase domain development in nanopatterned FeRh islands

Journal Article · · Physical Review Materials
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  1. Univ. of Leeds, Leeds (United Kingdom)
  2. Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom)
  3. Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot (United Kingdom)

The antiferromagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition in B2-ordered FeRh is imaged in laterally confined nanopatterned islands using photoemission electron microscopy with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism contrast. The resulting magnetic images directly detail the progression in the shape and size of the FM phase domains during heating and cooling through the transition. In 5-μm-square islands this domain development during heating is shown to proceed in three distinct modes - nucleation, growth, and merging - each with subsequently greater energy costs. In 0.5-μm islands, which are smaller than the typical final domain size, the growth mode is stunted and the transition temperature is found to be reduced by 20 K. The modification to the transition temperature is found by high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy to be due to a 100-nm chemically disordered edge grain present as a result of ion implantation damage during the patterning. FeRh has unique possibilities for magnetic memory applications; the inevitable changes to its magnetic properties due to subtractive nanofabrication will need to be addressed in future work in order to progress from sheet films to suitable patterned devices.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; EP-M018504-1; EP-M019020-1
OSTI ID:
1582327
Journal Information:
Physical Review Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 10; ISSN 2475-9953
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 13 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Phase boundary exchange coupling in the mixed magnetic phase regime of a Pd-doped FeRh epilayer journal February 2020
Spectral reflectivity crossover at the metamagnetic transition in FeRh thin films journal January 2019