Quantifying exchange forces of a spin spiral on the atomic scale

Nadine Hauptmann (), Soumyajyoti Haldar, Tzu-Chao Hung, Wouter Jolie, Mara Gutzeit, Daniel Wegner, Stefan Heinze and Alexander A. Khajetoorians
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Nadine Hauptmann: Radboud University
Soumyajyoti Haldar: Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität
Tzu-Chao Hung: Radboud University
Wouter Jolie: Radboud University
Mara Gutzeit: Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität
Daniel Wegner: Radboud University
Stefan Heinze: Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität
Alexander A. Khajetoorians: Radboud University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The large interest in chiral magnetic structures for realization of nanoscale magnetic storage or logic devices has necessitated methods which can quantify magnetic interactions at the atomic scale. To overcome the limitations of the typically used current-based sensing of atomic-scale exchange interactions, a force-based detection scheme is highly advantageous. Here, we quantify the atomic-scale exchange force field between a ferromagnetic tip and a cycloidal spin spiral using our developed combination of current and exchange force detection. Compared to the surprisingly weak spin polarization, the exchange force field is more sensitive to atomic-scale variations in the magnetization. First-principles calculations reveal that the measured atomic-scale variations in the exchange force originate from different contributions of direct and indirect (Zener type) exchange mechanisms, depending on the chemical tip termination. Our work opens the perspective of quantifying different exchange mechanisms of chiral magnetic structures with atomic-scale precision using 3D magnetic exchange force field measurements.

Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15024-2

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15024-2

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