Antiferromagnetic Nanoscale Bit Arrays of Magnetoelectric Cr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Thin Films.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39387710.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03044 and PMC identifier 11503818.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Magnetism of oxide antiferromagnets (AFMs) has been studied in single crystals and extended thin films. The properties of AFM nanostructures still remain underexplored. Here, we report on the fabrication and magnetic imaging of granular 100 nm-thick magnetoelectric Cr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> films patterned in circular bits with diameters ranging from 500 down to 100 nm. With the change of the lateral size, the domain structure evolves from a multidomain state for larger bits to a single domain state for the smallest bits. Based on spin-lattice simulations, we show that the physics of the domain pattern formation in granular AFM bits is primarily determined by the energy dissipation upon cooling, which results in motion and expelling of AFM domain walls of the bit. Our results provide a way toward the fabrication of single domain AFM-bit-patterned memory devices and the exploration of the interplay between AFM nanostructures and their geometric shape.