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Title: Memory effect and magnetocrystalline anisotropy impact on the surface magnetic domains of magnetite(001)

Abstract

The structure of magnetic domains, i.e. regions of uniform magnetization separated by domain walls, depends on the balance of competing interactions present in ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic) materials. When these interactions change then domain configurations also change as a result. Magnetite provides a good test bench to study these effects, as its magnetocrystalline anisotropy varies significantly with temperature. Using spin-polarized electron microscopy to map the micromagnetic domain structure in the (001) surface of a macroscopic magnetite crystal (~1 cm size) shows complex domain patterns with characteristic length-scales in the micrometer range and highly temperature dependent domain geometries. Although heating above the Curie temperature erases the domain patterns completely, cooling down reproduces domain patterns not only in terms of general characteristics: instead, complex microscopic domain geometries are reproduced in almost perfect fidelity between heating cycles. A possible explanation of the origin of the high-fidelity reproducibility is suggested to be a combination of the presence of hematite inclusions that lock bulk domains, together with the strong effect of the first order magnetocrystalline anisotropy which competes with the shape anisotropy to give rise to the observed complex patterns.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid (Spain)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. Complutense, Madrid (Spain); Unidad Asociada IQFR(CSIC)-UCM, Madrid (Spain)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of Spain (MINECO)
OSTI Identifier:
1592411
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231; BES-2013-063396
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 8; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; electronic and spintronic devices; surfaces, interfaces and thin films

Citation Formats

Martín-García, Laura, Chen, Gong, Montaña, Yaiza, Mascaraque, Arantzazu, Pabón, Beatriz M., Schmid, Andreas K., and de la Figuera, Juan. Memory effect and magnetocrystalline anisotropy impact on the surface magnetic domains of magnetite(001). United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24160-1.
Martín-García, Laura, Chen, Gong, Montaña, Yaiza, Mascaraque, Arantzazu, Pabón, Beatriz M., Schmid, Andreas K., & de la Figuera, Juan. Memory effect and magnetocrystalline anisotropy impact on the surface magnetic domains of magnetite(001). United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24160-1
Martín-García, Laura, Chen, Gong, Montaña, Yaiza, Mascaraque, Arantzazu, Pabón, Beatriz M., Schmid, Andreas K., and de la Figuera, Juan. 2018. "Memory effect and magnetocrystalline anisotropy impact on the surface magnetic domains of magnetite(001)". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24160-1. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1592411.
@article{osti_1592411,
title = {Memory effect and magnetocrystalline anisotropy impact on the surface magnetic domains of magnetite(001)},
author = {Martín-García, Laura and Chen, Gong and Montaña, Yaiza and Mascaraque, Arantzazu and Pabón, Beatriz M. and Schmid, Andreas K. and de la Figuera, Juan},
abstractNote = {The structure of magnetic domains, i.e. regions of uniform magnetization separated by domain walls, depends on the balance of competing interactions present in ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic) materials. When these interactions change then domain configurations also change as a result. Magnetite provides a good test bench to study these effects, as its magnetocrystalline anisotropy varies significantly with temperature. Using spin-polarized electron microscopy to map the micromagnetic domain structure in the (001) surface of a macroscopic magnetite crystal (~1 cm size) shows complex domain patterns with characteristic length-scales in the micrometer range and highly temperature dependent domain geometries. Although heating above the Curie temperature erases the domain patterns completely, cooling down reproduces domain patterns not only in terms of general characteristics: instead, complex microscopic domain geometries are reproduced in almost perfect fidelity between heating cycles. A possible explanation of the origin of the high-fidelity reproducibility is suggested to be a combination of the presence of hematite inclusions that lock bulk domains, together with the strong effect of the first order magnetocrystalline anisotropy which competes with the shape anisotropy to give rise to the observed complex patterns.},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-018-24160-1},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1592411}, journal = {Scientific Reports},
issn = {2045-2322},
number = 1,
volume = 8,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Apr 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Mon Apr 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

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Cited by: 5 works
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Works referenced in this record:

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journal, September 1968


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Magnetic imaging with spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy
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Room temperature in-plane ⟨100⟩ magnetic easy axis for Fe 3 O 4 /SrTiO 3 (001):Nb grown by infrared pulsed laser deposition
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Magnetite and the Verwey transition, from γ-rays to low-energy electrons
journal, May 2019


Coherent X-ray spectroscopy reveals the persistence of island arrangements during layer-by-layer growth
journal, March 2019