Subatomic movements of a domain wall in the Peierls potential

Individual Barkhausen Pulses of Ferroelastic Nanodomains

Ferroelectric materials, upon electric field biasing, display polarization discontinuities known as Barkhausen jumps, a subclass of a more general phenomenon known as crackling noise. Herein, we follow and visualize in real time the motion of single 90° needle domains induced by an electric field applied in the polarization direction of the prototypical ferroelectric BaTiO_{3}, inside a transmission electron microscope. The nature of motion and periodicity of the Barkhausen pulses leads to distinctive interactions between domains forming a herringbone pattern. Remarkably, the tips of the domains do not come into contact with the body of the perpendicular domain, suggesting the presence of strong electromechanical fields around the tips of the needle domains. Additionally, interactions of the domains with the lattice result in relatively free movement of the domain walls through the dielectric medium, indicating that their motion-related activation energy depends only on weak Peierls-like potentials. Control over the kinetics of ferroelastic domain wall motion can lead to novel nanoelectronic devices pertinent to computing and data storage applications.

The Characteristics of Graphene Obtained from Rice Husk and Graphite

In this paper methods for obtaining graphene oxide from rice husk were developed, which using a downward approach based on a four-stage strategy: preliminary carbonization, desilication, activation with KOH, and exfoliation and its comparison with the method of graphite oxidation. The samples were analyzed by elemental analysis, SEM, Raman, TGA and FTIR. The elemental analysis show that the proposed approach allows to produce graphene materials with a carbon content around 70% and rich in inorganic matter (0–20 wt.%) (K, Fe, Si). To remove inorganic contents, purification and functionalization step were applied. The Raman spectra of the samples indicate the presence of a mixture of graphene layers and amorphous carbon. The thermogravimetric profile of samples is characterized by a slowly weight decrease up to a final residue of ~10 wt.%. FTIR spectra are characterized by the typical broad shape of large condensed aromatic carbon bonds; only the peak due to C=C stretching modes and the overlapped peaks between 900 and 1500 cm-1 due to skeleton vibrations are detected.

Ferroelectric domain wall dynamics characterized with X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy

Technologically important properties of ferroic materials are determined by their intricate response to external stimuli. This response is driven by distortions of the crystal structure and/or by domain wall motion. Experimental separation of these two mechanisms is a challenging problem which has not been solved so far. Here, we apply X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) to extract the contribution of domain wall dynamics to the overall response. Furthermore, we show how to distinguish the dynamics related to the passing of domain walls through the periodic (Peierls) potential of the crystal lattice and through the random potential caused by lattice defects (pinning centers). The approach involves the statistical analysis of correlations between X-ray speckle patterns produced by the interference of coherent synchrotron X-rays scattered from different nanosize volumes of the crystal and identification of Poisson-type contribution to the statistics. We find such a contribution in the thermally driven response of the monoclinic phase of a ferroelectric PbZr_0.55Ti_0.45O₃ crystal and calculate the number of domain wall jumps in the studied microvolume.

Synthesis and characterization of graphene layers from rice husks

In this work, a method of obtaining graphene layers from natural source specifically from rice husk was developed. A rice husk (RH) was used as a raw material, and potassium hydroxide was used as activation agent. The graphene layers were obtained after four successive stages: pre-carbonization, desilication in 1M NaOH solution, chemical activation and exfoliation of the carbonized rice husk (CRH). The obtained samples were studied using Raman spectroscopy, TEM and SEM; the Raman peaks evidenced the presence of graphene multilayers in the sample. A detailed observation of Raman spectroscopy showed that the obtained samples with ratio of 1/4 and 1/5 (RH/KOH) consisted of graphene layers with a high content of amorphous component. The yield of the product was ~ 3% by weight. This study can provide a new way to the large-scale synthesis of low-cost single and multi-layered graphene using rice husk or other renewable resources.

Energy landscape scheme for an intuitive understanding of complex domain dynamics in ferroelectric thin films

Fundamental understanding of domain dynamics in ferroic materials has been a longstanding issue because of its relevance to many systems and to the design of nanoscale domain-wall devices. Despite many theoretical and experimental studies, a full understanding of domain dynamics still remains incomplete, partly due to complex interactions between domain-walls and disorder. We report domain-shape-preserving deterministic domain-wall motion, which directly confirms microscopic return point memory, by observing domain-wall breathing motion in ferroelectric BiFeO₃ thin film using stroboscopic piezoresponse force microscopy. Spatial energy landscape that provides new insights into domain dynamics is also mapped based on the breathing motion of domain walls. The evolution of complex domain structure can be understood by the process of occupying the lowest available energy states of polarization in the energy landscape which is determined by defect-induced internal fields. Our result highlights a pathway for the novel design of ferroelectric domain-wall devices through the engineering of energy landscape using defect-induced internal fields such as flexoelectric fields.

Motion of domain walls and the dynamics of kinks in the magnetic Peierls potential

We study the dynamics of magnetic domain walls in the Peierls potential due to the discreteness of the crystal lattice. The propagation of a narrow domain wall (comparable to the lattice parameter) under the effect of a magnetic field proceeds through the formation of kinks in its profile. We predict that, despite the discreteness of the system, such kinks can behave like sine-Gordon solitons in thin films of materials such as yttrium iron garnets, and we derive general conditions for other materials. In our simulations, we also observe long-lived breathers. We provide analytical expressions for the effective mass and limiting velocity of the kink in excellent agreement with our numerical results.

Magnonic domain wall heat conductance in ferromagnetic wires

We present a theoretical study of magnon-mediated heat transport in electrically insulating ferromagnetic wires containing a domain wall (DW). In the regime of validity of continuum micromagnetism, a DW is found to have no effect on the heat conductance. However, spin waves are found to be reflected by DWs with widths of a few lattice spacings, which is associated with emergence of an additional spin wave bound state. The resulting DW heat conductance should be significant for thin films of yttrium iron garnet with sharply defined magnetic domains.

Aging in the ferromagnetic phase of terbium

We report on aging, rejuvenation and memory effects in the ferromagnetic phase of pure terbium. We have applied an experimental method specifically for investigating slow dynamics of spin glasses, because these effects cannot be interpreted as conventional diffusion after-effects. Results show that relaxation times of the magnetic response are widely distributed, and isothermal aging shifted the distribution towards longer durations. If the sample was heated/cooled after such isothermal aging, the relaxation times shortened as if aging was starting anew; the behavior resembles that in spin glasses. Uniform magnetization experiments indicate that, unlike rejuvenation in spin glasses, ferromagnetic correlations are not returned to disorder by thermal perturbations. In contrast with memory effects in spin glasses, the effects of isothermal aging cannot be recovered once these disappear, even if the system is returned to its initial temperature. The observed results can be explained as collective pinning of the domain walls for which the potential is given by a rugged temperature-sensitive energy landscape.

Deaging and asymmetric energy landscapes in electrically biased ferroelectrics

In ferroic materials, the dielectric, piezoelectric, magnetic, and elastic coefficients are significantly affected by the motion of domain walls. This motion can be described as the propagation of a wall across various types and strengths of pinning centers that collectively constitute a force profile or energetic landscape. Biased domain structures and asymmetric energy landscapes can be created through application of high fields (such as during electrical poling), and the material behavior in such states is often highly asymmetric. In some cases, this behavior can be considered as the electric analogue to the Bauschinger effect. The present Letter uses time-resolved, high-energy x-ray Bragg scattering to probe this asymmetry and the associated deaging effect in the ferroelectric morphotropic phase boundary composition 0.36BiScO3 - 0.64PbTiO3.

Temperature-dependent dynamics of stochastic domain-wall depinning in nanowires

The temperature dependence of domain-wall depinning in permalloy nanowires is investigated by measuring depinning fields and corresponding depinning times as a function of the external magnetic bias field. Domain walls are pinned at triangular notches in the nanowires and detected noninvasively by Hall micromagnetometry. This technique allows one to acquire depinning-field and depinning-time distributions in the temperature range between 5 and 50 K and thus to determine the stochastics of the depinning process. The results are discussed in terms of the Néel-Brown model for thermally activated magnetization reversal, assuming a single energy barrier to overcome. In general, the cases presented deviate from this description and give a clear indication that a more complex term for the energy landscape of domain-wall depinning at constrictions in nanowires is obligatory.

Temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility in the vicinity of martensitic transformation in ferromagnetic shape memory alloys

Temperature dependences of low-field quasistatic magnetic susceptibility in the vicinity of martensitic transitions in an NiFeGa alloy are studied both by experiment and analytically. Pronounced reversible jumps of the magnetic susceptibility were observed near the martensitic transition temperature. A general description of the temperature dependences of the susceptibility in ferromagnetic austenite and martensite phases and the susceptibility jump at the transition is suggested. As a result, the main factors governing the temperature dependences of the magnetic susceptibility in the magnetic shape memory alloys are revealed. The magnetic susceptibility jump value is found to be related to changes of: (i) magnetic anisotropy; (ii) magnetic domain wall geometrical constraints (those determined by the alignment and size of twin variants) and (iii) mean magnetic domain spacing.

Stable and fast semi-implicit integration of the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation

We propose new semi-implicit numerical methods for the integration of the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation with built-in angular momentum conservation. The performance of the proposed integrators is tested on the 1D Heisenberg chain. For this system, our schemes show better stability properties and allow us to use considerably larger time steps than standard explicit methods. At the same time, these semi-implicit schemes are also of comparable accuracy to and computationally much cheaper than the standard midpoint implicit method. The results are of key importance for atomistic spin dynamics simulations and the study of spin dynamics beyond the macro spin approximation.

High temperature superconductor micro-superconducting-quantum-interference-device magnetometer for magnetization measurement of a microscale magnet

We have developed a high temperature superconductor (HTS) micrometer-sized dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer for high field and high temperature operation. It was fabricated from YBa2Cu3O7-delta of 92 nm in thickness with photolithography techniques to have a hole of 4x9 microm2 and 2 microm wide grain boundary Josephson junctions. Combined with a three dimensional magnetic field coil system, the modulation patterns of critical current Ic were observed for three different field directions. They were successfully used to measure the magnetic properties of a molecular ferrimagnetic microcrystal (23x17x13 microm3), [Mn2(H2O)2(CH3COO)][W(CN)8]2H2O. The magnetization curve was obtained in magnetic field up to 0.12 T between 30 and 70 K. This is the first to measure the anisotropy of hysteresis curve in the field above 0.1 T with an accuracy of 10(-12) J T(-1) (10(-9) emu) with a HTS micro-SQUID magnetometer.

Observation of soliton fusion in a Josephson array

The behavior of topological solitons in a parallel array of a Josephson junction is studied experimentally. We observe the fusion of two relativistic solitons of the same polarity into a single soliton. The soliton carries two quanta of magnetic flux and, most strikingly, travels 18% faster than an ordinary soliton under the same driving force. We also find a variety of bunched states composed of solitons of the same polarity, moving with fixed separation.