Chapter 1 Magnetism in ultrathin transition metal films

Imaging magnetic spiral phases, skyrmion clusters, and skyrmion displacements at the surface of bulk Cu2OSeO3

Surfaces - by breaking bulk symmetries, introducing roughness, or hosting defects - can significantly influence magnetic order in magnetic materials. Determining their effect on the complex nanometer-scale phases present in certain non-centrosymmetric magnets is an outstanding problem requiring high-resolution magnetic microscopy. Here, we use scanning SQUID microscopy to image the surface of bulk Cu2OSeO3 at low temperature and in a magnetic field applied along100 . Real-space maps measured as a function of applied field reveal the microscopic structure of the magnetic phases and their transitions. In low applied field, we observe a magnetic texture consistent with an in-plane stripe phase, pointing to the existence of a distinct surface state. In the low-temperature skyrmion phase, the surface is populated by clusters of disordered skyrmions, which emerge from rupturing domains of the tilted spiral phase. Furthermore, we displace individual skyrmions from their pinning sites by applying an electric potential to the scanning probe, thereby demonstrating local skyrmion control at the surface of a magnetoelectric insulator.

Magnetic Structure and Strain State in Fe/V Superlattices Studied by 57Fe+ Emission and Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy

The magnetic properties of the Fe/V superlattices were studied by conventional Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy (CEMS) and online 57Fe+ emission Mössbauer Spectroscopy (eMS) at room temperature (RT) at ISOLDE/CERN. The unique depth-enhanced sensitivity and ultradiluted regime of the probe atoms adopted in this eMS facility enabled the investigation of the magnetic structures and the strain state in the superlattice layers and at the interfaces. The magnetic spectra of the superlattices were found to depend on both the local lattice environment and the strain state of the Fe-lattices. The magnetic polarisation in the V-layers or at the interfaces was not detected at RT. Spectral broadening was evident in the single line component of the eMS due to Fe ions substituted at V-lattice sites in the V-layers of the superlattice, attributable to the lattice strain in the V-layers. Our study demonstrate that with the online eMS technique the effects of the strain state of the superlattice on the magnetic properties of the Fe-layer in the Fe/V multilayer structures can be detected.

Large-Area Nanopillar Arrays by Glancing Angle Deposition with Tailored Magnetic Properties

Ferromagnetic films down to thicknesses of tens of nanometers and composed by polycrystalline Fe and Fe₂O₃ nanopillars are grown in large areas by glancing angle deposition with magnetron sputtering (MS-GLAD). The morphological features of these films strongly depend on the growth conditions. Vertical or tilted nanopillars have been fabricated depending on whether the substrate is kept rotating azimuthally during deposition or not, respectively. The magnetic properties of these nanopillars films, such as hysteresis loops squareness, adjustable switching fields, magnetic anisotropy and coercivity, can be tuned with the specific morphology. In particular, the growth performed through a collimator mask mounted onto a not rotating azimuthally substrate produces almost isolated well-defined tilted nanopillars that exhibit a magnetic hardening. The first-order reversal curves diagrams and micromagnetic simulations revealed that a growth-induced uniaxial anisotropy, associated with an anisotropic surface morphology produced by the glancing angle deposition in the direction perpendicular to the atomic flux, plays an important role in the observed magnetic signatures. These results demonstrate the potential of the MS-GLAD method to fabricate nanostructured films in large area with tailored structural and magnetic properties for technological applications.

Two-dimensional itinerant ferromagnetism in atomically thin Fe3GeTe2

Discoveries of intrinsic two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetism in van der Waals (vdW) crystals provide an interesting arena for studying fundamental 2D magnetism and devices that employ localized spins^1-4. However, an exfoliable vdW material that exhibits intrinsic 2D itinerant magnetism remains elusive. Here we demonstrate that Fe₃GeTe₂ (FGT), an exfoliable vdW magnet, exhibits robust 2D ferromagnetism with strong perpendicular anisotropy when thinned down to a monolayer. Layer-number-dependent studies reveal a crossover from 3D to 2D Ising ferromagnetism for thicknesses less than 4 nm (five layers), accompanied by a fast drop of the Curie temperature (T_C) from 207 K to 130 K in the monolayer. For FGT flakes thicker than ~15 nm, a distinct magnetic behaviour emerges in an intermediate temperature range, which we show is due to the formation of labyrinthine domain patterns. Our work introduces an atomically thin ferromagnetic metal that could be useful for the study of controllable 2D itinerant ferromagnetism and for engineering spintronic vdW heterostructures⁵.