• Open Access

Engineering Magnetic Domain-Wall Structure in Permalloy Nanowires

M. J. Benitez, M. A. Basith, R. J. Lamb, D. McGrouther, S. McFadzean, D. A. MacLaren, A. Hrabec, C. H. Marrows, and S. McVitie
Phys. Rev. Applied 3, 034008 – Published 26 March 2015
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Abstract

Using a focused-ion-beam microscope, we create nontopographic features that provide controlled modification of domain-wall structure, size, and pinning strength in 500-nm-wide nanowires composed from Cr(3nm)/permalloy(10nm)/Cr(5nm). The pinning sites consist of linear defects where magnetic properties are modified by a Ga+-ion probe of diameter 10nm. Detailed studies of the structural, chemical, and magnetic changes induced by the irradiation, which show the modified region to be 4050nm wide, are performed using scanning-transmission-electron-microscopy modes of bright-field imaging, electron-energy-loss spectroscopy, and differential-phase-contrast imaging on an aberration corrected (Cs) instrument. The Fresnel mode of Lorentz-transmission-electron microscopy is used for studies of domain-wall behavior, where we observe changes in depinning strength and structure with irradiation dose and line orientation. We present an understanding of this behavior based upon micromagnetic simulation of the irradiated defects and their effect on the energy terms for the domain walls.

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  • Received 25 July 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.3.034008

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. J. Benitez1, M. A. Basith1,†, R. J. Lamb1, D. McGrouther1, S. McFadzean1, D. A. MacLaren1, A. Hrabec2, C. H. Marrows2, and S. McVitie1,*

  • 1SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
  • 2School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

  • *stephen.mcvitie@glasgow.ac.uk
  • Present address: Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.

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Vol. 3, Iss. 3 — March 2015

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