Origin and tailoring of the antiferromagnetic domain structure in $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ thin films unraveled by statistical analysis of dichroic spectro-microscopy (X-PEEM) images

Odile Bezencenet (1) , Daniel Bonamy (1) , Rachid Belkhou (2, 3) , Philippe Ohresser (4) , Antoine Barbier (1)

1 SPCSI - Service de Physique et de Chimie des Surfaces et Interfaces
2 SSOLEIL - Synchrotron SOLEIL
3 ELETTRA - Elettra Light source
4 LURE - Laboratoire pour l'utilisation du rayonnement électromagnétique

The magnetic microstructure and domain wall distribution of antiferromagnetic $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ epitaxial layers is determined by statistical image analyses. Using dichroic spectro-microscopy images, we demonstrate that the domain structure is statistically invariant with thickness and that the antiferromagnetic domain structure of the thin films is inherited from the ferrimagnetic precursor layer one, even after complete transformation into antiferromagnetic $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$. We show that modifying the magnetic domain structure of the precursor layer is a genuine way to tune the magnetic domain structure and domain walls of the antiferromagnetic layers.

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Odile Bezencenet, Daniel Bonamy, Rachid Belkhou, Philippe Ohresser, Antoine Barbier. Origin and tailoring of the antiferromagnetic domain structure in $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ thin films unraveled by statistical analysis of dichroic spectro-microscopy (X-PEEM) images. Physical Review Letters, 2011, 106 (10), pp.107201. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.107201⟩. ⟨hal-00567660⟩