Shaping nanoscale magnetic domain memory in exchange-coupled ferromagnets by field cooling

Abstract

The advance of magnetic nanotechnologies relies on detailed understanding of nanoscale magnetic mechanisms in materials. Magnetic domain memory (MDM), i.e., the tendency for magnetic domains to repeat the same pattern during field-cycling, is important to many technologies including magnetic recording developments. We show coherent x-ray magnetic scattering studies unveiling MDM in [Co/Pd]/IrMn films. When illuminated by coherent x-rays, the magnetic domains in the [Co/Pd] multilayer produce a speckle pattern unique to their specific nanoscale configuration. By cross-correlating such speckle patterns throughout the magnetization loop, we measure the MDM. When cooled below its blocking temperature, the film exhibits up to 100% MDM, induced by exchange-couplings with the IrMn layer. Furthermore, the degree of MDM drastically depends on cooling conditions. If the film is cooled under moderate fields, MDM is high throughout the entire magnetization loop. If the film is cooled under nearly saturating field, MDM vanishes, except at nucleation and saturation

References in corpus (4)

• Disorder-induced microscopic magnetic memory
• Quasistatic x-ray speckle metrology of microscopic magnetic return point memory
• Magnetic memory and current amplification devices using moving domain walls
• The influence of structural disorder on magnetic domain formation in perpendicular anisotropy thin films

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Using small-angle scattering to guide functional magnetic nanoparticle design
• Persistent Charge Density Wave Memory in a Cuprate Superconductor
• Persistence of Island Arrangements During Layer-by-Layer Growth Revealed Using Coherent X-rays
• Unraveling nanoscale magnetic ordering in Fe3O4 nanoparticle assemblies via x-rays
• Photon correlation spectroscopy with heterodyne mixing based on soft-x-ray magnetic circular dichroism
• Nanoscale Magnetic Domain Memory
• Dynamic control of ferroic domain patterns by thermal quenching
• Micro-structuration effects on local magneto-transport in [Co/Pd]IrMn thin films