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Title: Nanoscale Magnetic Domains in Polycrystalline Mn 3 Sn Films Imaged by a Scanning Single-Spin Magnetometer
Noncollinear antiferromagnets with novel magnetic orders, vanishingly small net magnetization and exotic spin related properties hold enormous promise for developing next generation, transformative spintronic applications. A major ongoing research focus of this community is to explore, control, and harness unconventional magnetic phases of this emergent material system to deliver state-of-the-art functionalities for modern microelectronics. Here we report direct imaging of magnetic domains of polycrystalline Mn3Sn films, a prototypical noncollinear antiferromagnet, using nitrogen-vacancy-based single-spin scanning microscopy. Nanoscale evolution of local stray field patterns of Mn3Sn samples are systematically investigated in response to external driving forces, revealing the characteristic “heterogeneous” magnetic switching behaviors in polycrystalline textured Mn3Sn films. Our results contribute to a comprehensive understanding of inhomogeneous magnetic orders of noncollinear antiferromagnets, highlighting the potential of nitrogen-vacancy centers to study microscopic spin properties of a broad range of emergent condensed matter systems.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2342569 2046227 1945023
PAR ID:
10485911
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
ACS publications
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Nano Letters
Volume:
23
Issue:
11
ISSN:
1530-6984
Page Range / eLocation ID:
5326 to 5333
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
quantum sensing, scanning nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry, topological magnets, antiferromagnetic materials
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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