Dual-phase digital lock-in implementation based on Nyquist rate and sampling subtraction

Lock-in amplifiers (LIA) are widely used in laboratory environments to detect low-amplitude signals buried in noise as well as real and imaginary parts of a complex quantity. They are based on the technique of synchronous detection, where the signal of interest is modulated into a desired frequency, sent to the medium or device to be analyzed, and captured by a detector. The detector scheme relies on the concept of phase-sensitive detection, generally resulting in two components: in-phase and quadrature. This article shows a very simple and low computational-cost way to implement a dual-phase LIA, using readily available microcontrollers, running a simple and fast algorithm. Three examples of signal detection are presented (sound wave signal, impedance meter, and weak signal recovery) to point out the flexibility and capabilities of the proposed methodology.

Real-time FMR lorentzian visualization through a novel synchronous VNA-FMR measurement apparatus

It is shown in this work that a synchronous measurement setup is able to conveniently and accurately retrieve ferromagnetic resonance's (FMR) main physical properties from a permalloy sample. The apparatus used comprises a vector network analyzer (VNA), coupled with external DC coils, driven by a controllable power supply. A permalloy thin film sample was subjected to a microwave signal through a grounded coplanar waveguide. A square wave signal generated by an Arduino microcontroller drives the coils to a triangular, 65.4 ms period magnetic field. This field's half-cycle is synchronized to match a zero-span sampling time at the VNA. The system has the advantage of fast results, as the typical FMR lorentzian curve is completed in a few seconds and shown immediately on the VNA's scattering parameter S₂₁ trace graph. The system showed an improved signal-to-noise ratio of 51.7 at 10 GHz over 24.3 for the 100 nm thick permalloy- sample used in this work. A magnetic field resonance point, collected at 10 GHz, showed a five-fold improvement in the standard-error.

Direct observation of massless domain wall dynamics in nanostripes with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Domain wall motion induced by nanosecond current pulses in nanostripes with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (Pt/Co/AlO(x)) is shown to exhibit negligible inertia. Time-resolved magnetic microscopy during current pulses reveals that the domain walls start moving, with a constant speed, as soon as the current reaches a constant amplitude, and no or little motion takes place after the end of the pulse. The very low "mass" of these domain walls is attributed to the combination of their narrow width and high damping parameter α. Such a small inertia should allow accurate control of domain wall motion by tuning the duration and amplitude of the current pulses.

Dynamics of magnetic domain wall motion after nucleation: dependence on the wall energy

The dynamics of magnetic domain wall motion in the FeNi layer of a FeNi/Al2O3/Co trilayer has been investigated by a combination of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, photoelectron emission microscopy, and a stroboscopic pump-probe technique. The nucleation of domains and subsequent expansion by domain wall motion in the FeNi layer during nanosecond-long magnetic field pulses was observed in the viscous regime up to the Walker limit field. We attribute an observed delay of domain expansion to the influence of the domain wall energy that acts against the domain expansion and that plays an important role when domains are small.

Perpendicular interlayer coupling in Ni80Fe20/NiO/Co trilayers

An in-plane perpendicular magnetic coupling between Ni80Fe20 and Co has been found in NiFe/NiO/Co trilayers for a NiO thickness ranging from 4 to 25 nm by magneto-optical Kerr effect and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements. In the easy magnetization direction of the Co layer, the Co coercive field H(C) increases when the thickness of the NiO layer t(NiO) increases. Because of the coupling, H(C) is always larger than for NiO/Co bilayers with the same thicknesses. The saturation field of the NiFe layer H(S) decreases when t(NiO) increases, indicating a weakening of the coupling. Numerical simulations show that the presence of interface roughness combined with a small value of the NiO anisotropy can explain the observed 90 degrees coupling.

Element-selective nanosecond magnetization dynamics in magnetic heterostructures

We have developed a new original technique to study the magnetization reversal dynamics of thin films with element selectivity in the nanosecond time scale. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements in pump-probe mode are carried out taking advantage of the time structure of synchrotron radiation. The dynamics of the magnetization reversal of each of the layers of complex heterostructures (like spin valves or tunnel junctions) can be probed independently. The interlayer coupling in the studied systems has been shown to play a key role in the determination of the magnetization reversal of each individual layer.

Quarter-wave plates and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism on ID24 at the ESRF

The first XMCD measurements carried out on the ID24 energy-dispersive XAS beamline at the ESRF are reported. Circular-polarized X-rays are obtained using perfect diamond crystals as quarter-wave plates. The very small source divergence allows circular polarizations close to unity to be obtained.

Nanosecond-resolved XMCD on ID24 at the ESRF to investigate the element-selective dynamics of magnetization switching of Gd-Co amorphous thin film

The one-bunch filling mode of the ESRF is combined with a microcoil to generate a pulsed-magnetic-field pump phased with respect to the probe that is given by the bunch of photons emitted each turn (357 kHz). Nanosecond-resolved X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) is carried out. Besides the microcoil, the two other key-elements are the energy-dispersive XAS spectrometer, which yields parallel data acquisition, and the diamond-based quarter-wave plate, which tunes the helicity of the photon alternatively left and right.