Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

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MA: Magnetismus

MA 16: Magn. Kopplungsph
änomene

MA 16.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 10, 2004, 16:00–16:15, H22

Magnetically frustrated regions in ultrathin antiferromagnetic Mn films on Fe(001) — •U. Schlickum, N. Janke-Gilman, B. Slowik, W. Wulfhekel, and J. Kirschner — Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, 06120 Halle

By using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy [1], we studied the magnetic behavior of ultra-thin antiferromagnetic Mn films grown on a ferromagnetic Fe(001) substrate. Mn on Fe(001) is a topological antiferromagnet, so that adjacent Mn layers couple antiferromagnetically to each other. Where Mn overgrows a step of the underlying Fe(001) substrate, the thickness of Mn on different sides of the step edge differs by one monolayer (ML). This results in a magnetically frustrated region at the step edges. As theoretically predicted [2], this frustration resembles a 180^∘ domain wall in the Mn film. We investigated the width of these topologically enforced walls in the antiferromagnet as a function of Mn film thickness (between 2 and 20 monolayers). A linear broadening of the wall width with increasing Mn thickness was found. The width of the wall is twice the Mn thickness. The experimental results are compared to theoretical calculations.

[1] U. Schlickum et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 2016 (2003). [2] D. Stoeffler et al., J. Magn. Magn. Mater.147, 260 (1995).