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Magnetic vortices are topological spin structures frequently found in ferromagnets, yet novel to antiferromagnets. By combining experiment and theory, we demonstrate that in a nanostructured antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic NiO(111)-Fe(110) bilayer, a magnetic vortex is naturally stabilized by magnetostatic interactions in the ferromagnet and is imprinted onto the adjacent antiferromagnet via interface exchange coupling. We use micromagnetic simulations to construct a corresponding phase diagram of the stability of the imprinted antiferromagnetic vortex state. Our in depth analysis reveals that the interplay between interface exchange coupling and the antiferromagnet magnetic anisotropy plays a crucial role in locally reorienting the N\'eel vector out-of-plane in the prototypical in-plane antiferromagnet NiO and thereby stabilizing the vortices in the antiferromagnet.

We report a combined study of imaging the antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin structure and measuring the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) in epitaxial thin films of the insulating non-collinear antiferromagnet SmFeO$_3$. X-ray magnetic linear dichroism photoemission electron microscopy measurements reveal that the AFM spins of the SmFeO$_3$(110) align in the plane of the film. Angularly dependent magnetoresistance measurements show that SmFeO$_3$/Ta bilayers exhibit a positive SMR, in contrast to the negative SMR expected in previously studied collinear AFMs. The SMR amplitude increases linearly with increasing external magnetic field at higher magnetic field, suggesting that field-induced canting of the AFM spins plays an important role. In contrast, around the coercive field, no detectable SMR signal is observed, indicating that SMR of AFM and canting magnetization components cancel out. Below 50~K, the SMR amplitude increases sizably by a factor of two as compared to room temperature, which likely correlates with the long-range ordering of the Sm ions. Our results show that the SMR is a sensitive technique for non-equilibrium spin system of non-collinear AFM systems., Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. This is the version of the article before peer review or editing, as submitted by an author to Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it

Since its proposal, the idea to vastly increase data storage density with a magnetic non-volatile 3D shift-register has sustained interest in current-induced domain wall (DW) motion. So far, experimental efforts have focused on flat nanostrips, which exhibit a wide range of noteworthy effects, yet suffer from intrinsic DW instabilities limiting their mobility. In contrast, ferromagnetic cylindrical nanowires (NWs) can host a novel type of magnetic DW, namely the Bloch-point wall (BPW), which due to its specific 3D topology should not experience the same fundamental issue. This could give rise to DW velocities over ~1000 m/s and fascinating new physics including coupling to magnetic spin waves, however, experimental evidence of DW dynamics in NWs is lacking until now. Here we report experimental results on current-induced DW motion in NWs with velocities >600 m/s, quantitatively consistent with predictions. Furthermore, our results indicate that although previously disregarded, the OErsted field induced by the current plays instead a crucial and valuable role in stabilising exclusively BPWs., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

The application of PhotoEmission Electron Microscopy (PEEM) and Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM) techniques to the study of the electronic and chemical structure of ferroelectric materials is reviewed. Electron optics in both techniques gives spatial resolution of a few tens of nanometres. PEEM images photoelectrons whereas LEEM images reflected and elastically backscattered electrons. Both PEEM and LEEM can be used in direct and reciprocal space imaging. Together, they provide access to surface charge, work function, topography, chemical mapping, surface crystallinity and band structure. Examples of applications for the study of ferroelectric thin films and single crystals are presented., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures

The phase separation occurring in Fe-Ni thin films near the Invar composition is studied by using high-resolution spectromicroscopy techniques and density functional theory calculations. Annealed at temperatures around 300 C, Fe0.70Ni0.30 films on W(110) break into micron-sized bcc and fcc domains with compositions in agreement with the bulk Fe-Ni phase diagram. Ni is found to be the diffusing species in forming the chemical heterogeneity. The experimentally determined energy barrier of 1.59 +- 0.09 eV is identified as the vacancy formation energy via density functional theory calculations. Thus, the principal role of the surface in the phase separation process is attributed to vacancy creation without interstitials., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

Shadow X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Photo-Emission Electron Microscopy (XMCD-PEEM) is a recent technique, in which the photon intensity in the shadow of an object lying on a surface, may be used to gather information about the three-dimensional magnetization texture inside the object. Our purpose here is to lay the basis of a quantitative analysis of this technique. We first discuss the principle and implementation of a method to simulate the contrast expected from an arbitrary micromagnetic state. Text book examples and successful comparison with experiments are then given. Instrumental settings are finally discussed, having an impact on the contrast and spatial resolution : photon energy, microscope extraction voltage and plane of focus, microscope background level, electric-field related distortion of three-dimensional objects, Fresnel diffraction or photon scattering.

We investigate experimentally magnetic frustration effects in thermally active artificial kagome spin ice. Starting from a paramagnetic state, the system is cooled down below the Curie temperature of the constituent material. The resulting magnetic configurations show that our arrays are locally brought into the so-called spin ice 2 phase, predicted by at-equilibrium Monte Carlo simulations and characterized by a magnetic charge crystal embedded in a disordered kagome spin lattice. However, by studying our arrays on a larger scale, we find unambiguous signature of an out-of-equilibrium physics. Comparing our findings with numerical simulations, we interpret the efficiency of our thermalization procedure in terms of kinetic pathways that the system follows upon cooling and which drive the arrays into degenerate low-energy manifolds that are hardly accessible otherwise., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Topological protection is an elegant way of warranting the integrity of quantum and nanosized systems. In magnetism one example is the Bloch-point, a peculiar object implying the local vanishing of magnetization within a ferromagnet. Its existence had been postulated and described theoretically since several decades, however it has never been observed. We con rm experimentally the existence of Bloch points, imaged within domain walls in cylindrical magnetic nanowires, combining surface and transmission XMCD-PEEM magnetic microscopy. This opens the way to the experimental search for peculiar phenomena predicted during the motion of Bloch-point-based domain walls.

It has recently been shown that submonolayer Pd on W(110) forms highly-ordered linear mesoscopic stripes at high temperatures. The stripes display an internal Pd superstructure with a nano-scale periodicity along the direction perpendicular to the periodicity of the stripes. The same type of superstructure is also observed in a wide range of temperatures below the stripe formation temperature. We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of this superstructure of Pd on W(110) and investigate its influence on the appearance of the linear mesoscopic stripes. By means of low-energy electron diffraction and low-energy-electron microscopy we show that it has a far more peculiar dependence on temperature and coverage than expected from a regular surface reconstruction. Using density-functional theory, we model the Pd superstructures as periodic vacancy-line type of configurations and investigate their energetics and elastic properties. From our calculated surface stresses and anisotropies for the vacancy-line type of configurations, and based on the continuum elasticity theory, we demonstrate quantitatively that the vacancy-line type of structure is a prerequisite for the formation of the linear mesoscopic stripes. Moreover, we show that the physics driving the formation of the internal superstructure is very similar to the one at play in forming the mesoscopic stripes themselves., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures and 5 pages, 4 figures for the supplementary material

We determine experimentally the spin structure of half-metallic Co2FeAl0.4Si0.6 Heusler alloy elements using magnetic microscopy. Following magnetic saturation, the dominant magnetic states consist of quasi-uniform configurations, where a strong influence from the magnetocrystalline anisotropy is visible. Heating experiments show the stability of the spin configuration of domain walls in confined geometries up to 800 K. The switching temperature for the transition from transverse to vortex walls in ring elements is found to increase with ring width, an effect attributed to structural changes and consequent changes in magnetic anisotropy, which start to occur in the narrower elements at lower temperatures., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

The effect of oxygen adsorption on the local structure and electronic properties of monolayer graphene grown on SiC(0001) has been studied by means of Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM), microprobe Low Energy Electron Diffraction (\muLEED) and microprobe Angle Resolved Photoemission (\muARPES). We show that the buffer layer of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) is partially decoupled after oxidation. The monitoring of the oxidation process demonstrates that the oxygen saturates the Si dangling bonds, breaks some Si-C bonds at the interface and intercalates the graphene layer. Accurate control over the oxidation parameters enables us to tune the charge density modulation in the layer., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures

Spontaneously formed equilibrium nanopatterns with long-range order are widely observed in a variety of systems, but their pronounced temperature dependence remains an impediment to maintain such patterns away from the temperature of formation. Here, we report on a highly ordered stress-induced stripe pattern in a two-component, Pd-O, adsorbate monolayer on W(110), produced at high temperature and identically preserved at lower temperatures. The pattern shows a tunable period (down to 16 nm) and orientation, as predicted by a continuum model theory along with the surface stress and its anisotropy found in our DFT calculations. The control over thermal fluctuations in the stripe formation process is based on the breaking/restoring of ergodicity in a high-density lattice gas with long-range interactions upon turning off/on particle exchange with a heat bath., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

We study the depinning of domain walls by pure diffusive spin currents in a nonlocal spin valve structure based on two ferromagnetic permalloy elements with copper as the nonmagnetic spin conduit. The injected spin current is absorbed by the second permalloy structure with a domain wall and from the dependence of the wall depinning field on the spin current density we find an efficiency of 6*10^{-14}T/(A/m^2), which is more than an order of magnitude larger than for conventional current induced domain wall motion. Theoretically we reproduce this high efficiency, which arises from the surface torques exerted by the absorbed spin current that lead to efficient depinning., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

Strain relaxations of a p(1x2) ordered oxygen layer on W(110) are measured as a function of temperature across the disordering transition using low-energy electron diffraction. The measured strains approach values of 0.027 in the [1-10] and -0.053 in the [001] direction. On the basis of the measured strain relaxations, we give quantitative information on temperature-dependent surface stress using the results of ab initio calculations. From the surface formation energy for different strains, determined by first-principles calculations, we estimate that surface stress changes from -1.1 for the ordered phase to -0.2N/m for the disordered one along [1-10], and from 5.1 to 3.4 N/m along [001]. Moreover, our observation that the strains scale inversely with domain size confirms that the strain relaxation takes place at the domain boundaries., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

Co islands and films are characterized by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy (XMCD-PEEM). The spatial resolution capabilties of the technique together with atomic growth control permit obtaining perfectly flat triangular islands with a given thickness (3 ML), very close to an abrupt spin-reorientation transition. The magnetic domain configurations are found to depend on island size: while small islands can be magnetized in a single-domain state, larger islands show more complex patterns. Furthermore, the magnetization pattern of the larger islands presents a common chirality. By means of dichroic spectro-microscopy at the Co L absorption edges, an experimental estimate of the ratio of the spin- and orbital magnetic moment for three monolayer thick films is obtained., Comment: 16 pages, three figures

A stress-induced stripe phase of submonolayer Pd on W(110) is observed by low-energy electron microscopy. The temperature dependence of the pattern is explained by the change both in the boundary free energy and elastic relaxation energy due to the increasing boundary width. The stripes are shown to disorder when the correlation length of the condensed phase becomes comparable to its period, while the condensate to lattice-gas transition takes place at a higher temperature, as revealed by low-energy electron diffraction., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

The stress-induced lattice changes in a p(1x2) ordered oxygen layer on W(110) are measured by low-energy electron diffraction. We have observed that small oxygen islands show a mismatch with the underlying lattice. Our results indicate that along [1-10] the average mismatch scales inversely with the island size as 1/L for all oxygen coverages up to 0.5 ML, while along [001] it is significant only for the smallest oxygen islands and scales as a higher power of the inverse island size. The behaviour along [1-10] is described by a one-dimensional finite-size Frenkel-Kontorova model. Using this model, together with calculated force constants, we make a quantitative estimate for the change of surface-stress upon oxygen adsorption. The result is consistent with our ab-initio calculations, which give a relative compressive stress of -4.72 N/m along [1-10] and a minute relative tensile stress of 0.15 N/m along [001]. The scaling along [001] is qualitatively explained as an effect induced by the lattice relaxation in the [1-10] direction., Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures