Observation of Magnetic Ripple and Nanowidth Domains in a Layered Ferromagnet

T. Asaka, T. Kimura, T. Nagai, X. Z. Yu, K. Kimoto, Y. Tokura, and Y. Matsui

Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 227204 – Published 22 November 2005

Abstract

We investigated ferromagnetic domain structures on nanometer to micrometer scale for single crystals of a layered ferromagnet, ${La}_{2 - 2 x} {Sr}_{1 + 2 x} {Mn}_{2} O_{7}$ ( $0.32 \leq x \leq 0.40$ ), as functions of $x$ and temperature by means of Lorentz electron microscopy. We have succeeded in observing the evolution of magnetic ripple structure, dynamically, related to a spin reorientation transition where the magnetization direction switches between parallel and perpendicular to the layers. Our high-resolution magnetic domain imaging revealed that the ripple state is characterized by the evolution of magnetic nanowidth domains.

Received 4 July 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.227204

Authors & Affiliations

T. Asaka¹, T. Kimura², T. Nagai¹, X. Z. Yu^1,3, K. Kimoto¹, Y. Tokura^3,4,5, and Y. Matsui¹

¹High Voltage Electron Microscopy Station (HVEMS), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
²Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
³Spin Superstructure Project, Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Tsukuba 305-8562, Japan
⁴Department of Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
⁵Correlated Electron Research Center (CERC), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba 305-0046, Japan

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 22 — 25 November 2005

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