Thin film quantum materials

Abstract:

The micromagnetic domain structure of MnAs films on GaAs(001) has been systematically investigated by micromagnetic imaging and simulations. The magnetic force microscopy (MFM) contrast resulting from the stray field of the simulated three-dimensional domain patterns was calculated and found to be in excellent agreement with MFM experiments. By combining three-dimensional stray-field imaging by MFM with surface sensitive probing and micromagnetic simulations, we were able to derive a consistent picture of the micromagnetic structure of MnAs. For example, the origin of the comblike contrast observed through MFM was identified as a metastable domain configuration exhibiting a cross-tie wall.

Abstract:

We present the results of transverse-field muon-spin rotation measurements on an epitaxially grown 40 nm-thick film of MnSi on Si(111) in the region of the field-temperature phase diagram where a skyrmion phase has been observed in the bulk. We identify changes in the quasistatic magnetic field distribution sampled by the muon, along with evidence for magnetic transitions around T ≈ 40 K and 30 K. Our results suggest that the cone phase is not the only magnetic texture realized in film samples for out-of-plane fields.