Role of anti-phase boundaries in the formation of magnetic domains in magnetite thin films

TY - JOUR

T1 - Role of anti-phase boundaries in the formation of magnetic domains in magnetite thin films

AU - Moreno, Roberto

AU - Jenkins, Sarah

AU - Skeparovski, Aleksandar

AU - Nedelkovski, Zlatko

AU - Gerber, Alexander

AU - Lazarov, Vlado

AU - Evans, Richard F L

N1 - Funding Information: The financial support of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant No. EPSRC EP/P022006/1) is gratefully acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.

PY - 2021/4/23

Y1 - 2021/4/23

N2 - Anti-phase boundaries (APBs) are structural defects which have been shown to be responsible for the anomalous magnetic behaviour observed in different nanostructures. Understanding their properties is crucial in order to use them to tune the properties of magnetic materials by growing APBs in a controlled way since their density strongly depends on the synthesis method. In this work we investigate their influence on magnetite (Fe$_3$O$_4$) thin films by considering an atomistic spin model, focusing our study on the role that the exchange interactions play across the APB interface. We conclude that the main atypical features reported experimentally in this material are well described by the model we propose here, confirming the new exchange interactions created in the APB as the responsible for this deviation from bulk properties.

AB - Anti-phase boundaries (APBs) are structural defects which have been shown to be responsible for the anomalous magnetic behaviour observed in different nanostructures. Understanding their properties is crucial in order to use them to tune the properties of magnetic materials by growing APBs in a controlled way since their density strongly depends on the synthesis method. In this work we investigate their influence on magnetite (Fe$_3$O$_4$) thin films by considering an atomistic spin model, focusing our study on the role that the exchange interactions play across the APB interface. We conclude that the main atypical features reported experimentally in this material are well described by the model we propose here, confirming the new exchange interactions created in the APB as the responsible for this deviation from bulk properties.

KW - atomistic spin simulations

KW - magnetite

KW - thin films

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105492647&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/1361-648X/abe26c

DO - 10.1088/1361-648X/abe26c

M3 - Article

C2 - 33530069

SN - 0953-8984

VL - 33

JO - Journal of physics : Condensed matter

JF - Journal of physics : Condensed matter

IS - 17

M1 - 175802

ER -