Observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructure
Vortices are among the simplest topological structures, and occur whenever a flow field `whirls' around a one-dimensional core. They are ubiquitous to many branches of physics, from fluid dynamics to superconductivity and superfluidity, and are even predicted by some unified theories of particl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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American Physical Society
2018
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| _version_ | 1797103227402977280 |
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| author | Chmiel, FP Price, NW Johnson, RD Lamirand, A Schad, J Laan, GVD Harris, DT Irwin, J Rzchowski, MS Eom, C-B Radaelli, PG |
| author_facet | Chmiel, FP Price, NW Johnson, RD Lamirand, A Schad, J Laan, GVD Harris, DT Irwin, J Rzchowski, MS Eom, C-B Radaelli, PG |
| author_sort | Chmiel, FP |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Vortices are among the simplest topological structures, and occur whenever a flow field `whirls' around a one-dimensional core. They are ubiquitous to many branches of physics, from fluid dynamics to superconductivity and superfluidity, and are even predicted by some unified theories of particle interactions, where they might explain some of the largest-scale structures seen in today's Universe. In the crystalline state, vortex formation is rare, since it is generally hampered by long-range interactions: in ferroic materials (ferromagnetic and ferroelectric), vortices are only observed when the effects of the dipole-dipole interaction is modified by confinement at the nanoscale, or when the parameter associated with the vorticity does not couple directly with strain. Here, we present the discovery of a novel form of vortices in antiferromagnetic (AFM) hematite ($\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$) epitaxial films, in which the primary whirling parameter is the staggered magnetisation. Remarkably, ferromagnetic (FM) topological objects with the same vorticity and winding number of the $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ vortices are imprinted onto an ultra-thin Co ferromagnetic over-layer by interfacial exchange. Our data suggest that the ferromagnetic vortices may be merons (half-skyrmions, carrying an out-of-plane core magnetisation), and indicate that the vortex/meron pairs can be manipulated by the application of an in-plane magnetic field, H$_{\parallel}$, giving rise to large-scale vortex-antivortex annihilation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:17:04Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:f1706f62-b143-41c5-80c1-77f0cbb5799a |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:17:04Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:f1706f62-b143-41c5-80c1-77f0cbb5799a2022-03-27T11:56:12ZObservation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructureJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f1706f62-b143-41c5-80c1-77f0cbb5799aSymplectic Elements at OxfordAmerican Physical Society2018Chmiel, FPPrice, NWJohnson, RDLamirand, ASchad, JLaan, GVDHarris, DTIrwin, JRzchowski, MSEom, C-BRadaelli, PGVortices are among the simplest topological structures, and occur whenever a flow field `whirls' around a one-dimensional core. They are ubiquitous to many branches of physics, from fluid dynamics to superconductivity and superfluidity, and are even predicted by some unified theories of particle interactions, where they might explain some of the largest-scale structures seen in today's Universe. In the crystalline state, vortex formation is rare, since it is generally hampered by long-range interactions: in ferroic materials (ferromagnetic and ferroelectric), vortices are only observed when the effects of the dipole-dipole interaction is modified by confinement at the nanoscale, or when the parameter associated with the vorticity does not couple directly with strain. Here, we present the discovery of a novel form of vortices in antiferromagnetic (AFM) hematite ($\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$) epitaxial films, in which the primary whirling parameter is the staggered magnetisation. Remarkably, ferromagnetic (FM) topological objects with the same vorticity and winding number of the $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ vortices are imprinted onto an ultra-thin Co ferromagnetic over-layer by interfacial exchange. Our data suggest that the ferromagnetic vortices may be merons (half-skyrmions, carrying an out-of-plane core magnetisation), and indicate that the vortex/meron pairs can be manipulated by the application of an in-plane magnetic field, H$_{\parallel}$, giving rise to large-scale vortex-antivortex annihilation. |
| spellingShingle | Chmiel, FP Price, NW Johnson, RD Lamirand, A Schad, J Laan, GVD Harris, DT Irwin, J Rzchowski, MS Eom, C-B Radaelli, PG Observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructure |
| title | Observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar
α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructure |
| title_full | Observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar
α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructure |
| title_fullStr | Observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar
α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar
α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructure |
| title_short | Observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar
α-Fe2O3/Co heterostructure |
| title_sort | observation of magnetic vortex pairs at room temperature in a planar α fe2o3 co heterostructure |
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