Magnetization reversal through an antiferromagnetic state

Somnath Ghara (), Evgenii Barts, Kirill Vasin, Dmytro Kamenskyi, Lilian Prodan, Vladimir Tsurkan, István Kézsmárki, Maxim Mostovoy and Joachim Deisenhofer
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Somnath Ghara: Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg
Evgenii Barts: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Kirill Vasin: Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg
Dmytro Kamenskyi: Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg
Lilian Prodan: Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg
Vladimir Tsurkan: Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg
István Kézsmárki: Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg
Maxim Mostovoy: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Joachim Deisenhofer: Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Magnetization reversal in ferro- and ferrimagnets is a well-known archetype of non-equilibrium processes, where the volume fractions of the oppositely magnetized domains vary and perfectly compensate each other at the coercive magnetic field. Here, we report on a fundamentally new pathway for magnetization reversal that is mediated by an antiferromagnetic state. Consequently, an atomic-scale compensation of the magnetization is realized at the coercive field, instead of the mesoscopic or macroscopic domain cancellation in canonical reversal processes. We demonstrate this unusual magnetization reversal on the Zn-doped polar magnet Fe2Mo3O8. Hidden behind the conventional ferrimagnetic hysteresis loop, the surprising emergence of the antiferromagnetic phase at the coercive fields is disclosed by a sharp peak in the field-dependence of the electric polarization. In addition, at the magnetization reversal our THz spectroscopy studies reveal the reappearance of the magnon mode that is only present in the pristine antiferromagnetic state. According to our microscopic calculations, this unusual process is governed by the dominant intralayer coupling, strong easy-axis anisotropy and spin fluctuations, which result in a complex interplay between the ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. Such antiferro-state-mediated reversal processes offer novel concepts for magnetization control, and may also emerge for other ferroic orders.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40722-y

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