Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 49: Surface Magnetism 2 (Joint Session with O)

MA 49.8: Talk

Thursday, March 23, 2017, 11:30–11:45, HSZ 401

Chiral spin coupling across the interface of Fe/W(110) monolayer - double layer coverages — •Anika Schlenhoff, Stefan Krause, and Roland Wiesendanger — Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, Germany

Recently, various complex magnetic spin structures in metallic thin film systems arising from the interplay of exchange, anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction have been discovered. For example, the Fe double layer (DL) on W(110) exhibits an inhomogeneous right-rotating cycloidal spin spiral with magnetic domains separated by chiral domain walls [1]. On the Fe monolayer (ML) on W(110) in-plane magnetized domains have been observed [2], but the domain wall chirality has not been investigated yet.

Here, we present spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on combined ML and DL of Fe/W(110). In the ML, adjacent domain walls show a unique rotational sense, indicating an inhomogeneous spin spiral. At the interface between the ML and the DL a deformation of the magnetic domain pattern of the DL is found. Our observations indicate a chiral magnetic coupling of the DL to the ML and a DM vector at the ML - DL interface being perpendicular to the surface.

[1] S. Meckler et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 157201 (2009).

[2] M. Pratzer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 127201 (2001).