SKM 2023 – scientific programme
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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 40: Poster Magnetism II
MA 40.5: Poster
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 14:00–16:00, P2/EG
Imaging the antiferromagnetic domain structure of α-Fe2O3 and its magnetic field dependence — •Julian Skolaut1, Kai Litzius2,3, Markus Weigand4, Olena Gomonay1, Elizaveta Tremsina5, Sebastian Wintz3,4, Norman Birge6, Geoffrey Beach5, and Angela Wittmann1 — 1Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz — 2University Augsburg — 3MPI Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart — 4HZB, Berlin — 5MIT, Cambridge, USA — 6Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
In recent years, antiferromagnets have gained increasing attention for spintronics applications due to their favorable properties such as vanishing stray fields. Moreover, the domain structure formation mechanism is different from ferromagnets. Here, we study the canted antiferromagnet hematite α-Fe2O3. The canting of the spins yields a small in-plane magnetization, lifting the degeneracy of the Néel vector orientation w.r.t. an external magnetic field. Our measurements investigate the magnetic domain structure of hematite, specifically the movement of domain walls by application of an external magnetic field. For this, we have imaged the domain structure of α-Fe2O3 by taking x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) contrast images of the domain structure of α-Fe2O3 by total electron yield using a scanning x-ray microscope. This method allows imaging of the domain structure within an applied magnetic field and studying the domain structure, as well as the displacement of domain walls as a function of the magnetic field. A thorough analysis of the changes in domain structure will elucidate the underlying mechanisms for the formation of magnetic domains.