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Abstract NaCl has widely been used as a seeding promoter for chemical vapor deposition of large-scale 2D transition metal dichalcogenides. In this work, we report a study of the influence of NaCl on the growth and optical properties of layered CVD-grown WS₂using steady-state and time-resolved Kerr rotation measurements at room temperature. Strong photoluminescence (PL) signals from single flakes grown with a low NaCl content indicates direct band-gap emission, whereas flakes grown with higher amounts of NaCl exhibit red-shifted, weaker PL. Raman measurements from single flakes also indicate that WS₂grown with higher NaCl amounts result in multilayered structures, while lower NaCl quantities yield monolayer WS₂. Ultrafast carrier decay measurements from single flakes also indicate a NaCl-dependent on the valley exchange interaction component (<10 ps) and slower decay components (>50 ps), attributed to a combination of phenomena, such as the band gap transitioning from direct to indirect and defect-related localized states. Our study provides insight into the influence of seeding promoters in layered CVD-grown WS₂in particular and 2D transition metal dichalcogenides in general. 

Thin films composed of sputtered transition metal/rare earth (TM/RE) ferrimagnets have emerged as promising building blocks for future spintronic devices, offering tunable magnetic properties critical for data storage, memory, and logic applications. However, understanding how the combination of TM and RE elements influences effective magnetic properties, such as exchange stiffness (Aex), remains challenging. Magnetic vortices provide a versatile tool for probing these properties in thin film systems. By combining magnetic imaging via soft x-ray microscopy and micromagnetic modeling, we quantify the effective exchange stiffness in PyGd ferrimagnetic disks with varying Gd concentrations. Our results indicate a reduction in Aex to below 3 pJ/m for a 20% Gd concentration when compared to reference Py, and values below 2 pJ/m for 30% Gd, reflecting weak Ni–Gd exchange coupling. These findings highlight the critical role of rare earth content in tuning the exchange stiffness. The reduced exchange stiffness facilitates a linear field response of the magnetization up to the edge of the disk, as well as significant deformations in the vortex core itself when compared to films with larger Aex. Our results are in line with, albeit lower than, recent measurements of the exchange stiffness in intermixed PyGd. This reduced exchange stiffness has implications for the development of spintronic devices based on ferrimagnetic skyrmions. 

The stability and resonance spectra associated with a domain wall skyrmion embedded within a Néel skyrmion, forming a 1-kink skyrmion, has been studied using micromagnetic simulations. We show that the 1-kink skyrmion is stable over a wide range of fields at moderate strengths of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. By exciting these structures with a broadband magnetic field excitation, we find complex resonance behavior deviating from that of a pure Néel skyrmion. For out-of-plane excitations, the 1-kink skyrmion demonstrates an additional mode relative to that of the Néel skyrmion at reduced amplitude. These consist of low frequency and high frequency modes associated with both a breathing mode and an oscillation of the embedded domain wall skyrmion. Following an in-plane excitation, both Néel and 1-kink skyrmions exhibit a counterclockwise rotational mode with similar frequencies, as well as a higher frequency mode associated with the interaction of the structure with the ferromagnetic background state. These results may help pave the way for exploration of more complex spin structures for magnetic-based microwave devices. 

Spin-orbit torque (SOT) driven domain wall motion has attracted significant attention as the basis for a variety of spintronic devices due to its potential use as a high speed, low power means to manipulate the magnetic state of an object. While most previous attention has focused on ultrathin films wherein the material thickness is significantly less than the magnetic exchange length, recent reports have suggested unique dynamics may be achieved in intermediate and high thickness films. We used micromagnetic modelling to explore the role of the vertically non-uniform spin textures associated with the domain wall in nanowires of varying thickness on SOT driven domain wall motion. We found large velocity asymmetries between Bloch chiralities near the current density required for reversal of the Bloch component of the magnetization and linked these asymmetries to a gradual reorientation of the domain wall structure which drives a non-negligible, chiral Néel component of the domain wall. We further explored the influence of saturation magnetization, film thickness, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, and in-plane fields on domain wall dynamics. These results provide a framework for the development of SOT based devices based on domain wall motion in nanowires beyond the ultrathin film limit.