Probing the antiferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition in artificial spin ice by tuning interactions

Maryam Massouras , Daniel Lacour (1) , Michel Hehn (1) , François Montaigne (1)

1 IJL - Institut Jean Lamour

Artificial spin ice systems, two-dimensional arrays of interacting nanomagnets, provide a playground to directly observe competing interactions. Due to the anisotropic nature of the dipolar interactions, rotation of nanomagnets is a powerful way of tuning the interactions. In this paper, we experimentally examine the ground state transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic order triggered by this transformation. The as-grown magnetic configurations well agree with Monte Carlo simulations and ascribe a unique effective temperature independent of the rotation angle. Deviations from the theoretical ground state and behavior at transition are therefore well explained.

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

Maryam Massouras, Daniel Lacour, Michel Hehn, François Montaigne. Probing the antiferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition in artificial spin ice by tuning interactions. Physical Review B: Condensed Matter (1978-1997), 2020, 101, ⟨10.1103/PhysRevB.101.174421⟩. ⟨hal-02887697⟩