Imaging antiferromagnetic domains in nickel oxide thin films by optical birefringence effect

Jia Xu, Chao Zhou, Mengwen Jia, Dong Shi, Changqing Liu, Haoran Chen, Gong Chen, Guanhua Zhang, Yu Liang, Junqin Li, Wei Zhang, and Yizheng Wu
Phys. Rev. B 100, 134413 – Published 10 October 2019
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Abstract

Recent demonstrations of electrical detection and manipulation of antiferromagnets (AFMs) have opened new opportunities toward robust and ultrafast spintronics devices. However, it is difficult to establish the connection between the spin-transport behavior and the microscopic AFM domain states in thin films due to the lack of a real-time imaging technique under the electric field. Here we report a large magneto-optical birefringence effect with polarization rotation up to 60 millidegrees in thin NiO(001) films at room temperature. Such large optical polarization rotation allows us to directly observe AFM domains in thin-film NiO by utilizing a wide-field optical microscope. Complementary x-ray magnetic linear dichroism–photoemission electron microscopy measurement further confirms that the optical contrast is related to the NiO AFM domain. We examine the domain pattern evolution at a wide range of temperatures and with the application of external magnetic field. Comparing to large-scale-facility techniques such as x-ray photoemission electron microscopy, using a wide-field, tabletop optical imaging method in reflection geometry enables straightforward access to domain configurations of single-layer AFMs.

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  • Received 18 February 2019
  • Revised 4 September 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.134413

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Jia Xu1, Chao Zhou1, Mengwen Jia1, Dong Shi1, Changqing Liu1, Haoran Chen1, Gong Chen2, Guanhua Zhang3, Yu Liang3, Junqin Li4, Wei Zhang5,*, and Yizheng Wu1,6,†

  • 1Department of Physics and State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 2Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
  • 3State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, Liaoning, 116023, China
  • 4Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Zhangjiang Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204, China
  • 5Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan 48309, USA
  • 6Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China

  • *weizhang@oakland.edu
  • wuyizheng@fudan.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 13 — 1 October 2019

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