Real-space imaging of non-collinear antiferromagnetic order with a single spin magnetometer

Abstract

While ferromagnets are at the heart of daily life applications, their large magnetization and resulting energy cost for switching bring into question their suitability for reliable low-power spintronic devices. Non-collinear antiferromagnetic systems do not suffer from this problem and often possess remarkable extra functionalities: non-collinear spin order may break space-inversion symmetry and thus allow electric-field control of magnetism, or produce emergent spin-orbit effects, which enable efficient spin-charge interconversion. To harness these unique traits for next-generation spintronics, the nanoscale control and imaging capabilities that are now routine for ferromagnets must be developed for antiferromagnetic systems. Here, using a non-invasive scanning nanomagnetometer based on a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect in diamond, we demonstrate the first real-space visualization of non-collinear antiferromagnetic order in a magnetic thin film, at room temperature. We image the spin cycloid of a multiferroic BiFeO${}_3$ thin film and extract a period of $\sim 70$ nm, consistent with values determined by macroscopic diffraction. In addition, we take advantage of the magnetoelectric coupling present in BiFeO${}_3$ to manipulate the cycloid propagation direction by an electric field. Besides highlighting the unique potential of NV magnetometry for imaging complex antiferromagnetic orders at the nanoscale, these results demonstrate how BiFeO${}_3$ can be used as a versatile platform for the design of reconfigurable nanoscale spin textures.

References in corpus (6)

• Weak ferromagnetism and magnetoelectric coupling in bismuth ferrite
• Electric-field-induced spin-flop in BiFeO3 single crystals at room-temperature
• Electric-field control of spin waves at room temperature in multiferroic BiFeO3
• The nature of domain walls in ultrathin ferromagnets revealed by scanning nanomagnetometry
• Structure and spin dynamics of multiferroric BiFeO${}_3$
• Strain and Magnetic Field Induced Spin-Structure Transitions in Multiferroic BiFeO3

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• Robust Higher-Order Hamiltonian Engineering for Quantum Sensing with Strongly Interacting Systems
• Ptychographic nanoscale imaging of the magnetoelectric coupling in freestanding BiFeO${}_3$
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• Multicone Diamond Waveguides for Nanoscale Quantum Sensing
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• Minimizing sensor-sample distances in scanning nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry
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• Can ultraprecision polishing techniques improve the coherence times of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond?
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• Transport properties of Rashba conducting strips coupled to magnetic moments with spiral order