The study of magnetization dynamics is crucial for the development of new magnetic storage materials and devices, which are typically composed of several different layers. The most widely used technique, ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), gives insight into only the integrated magnetization dynamics within these complex systems. This is where synchrotron radiation offers a solution. Making use of the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) effect, magnetic and chemical contrast is obtained, which allows for studying the element-specific magnetization dynamics in X-ray detected FMR.
Innovative magnetic materials have played, and will continue to play, a pivotal role for the increase in data storage capacity for years to come. Their continuing development, and especially due the advent of complex, topologically ordered magnetic systems, requires suitable ultra-sensitive characterization tools in their native GHz frequency domain. With DFMR, the team has established a key tool that will aid researchers in their quest to synthesize and engineer new skyrmion and multiferroic materials in which ordered magnetic moments can be manipulated via the application of electric or magnetic fields, with the goal to develop high-density and low-energy consumption data processing solutions.
Lead author Dr David Burn explains:
We believe that the development of diffractive FMR presents a major breakthrough for spintronics as it allows, for the first time, the study of dynamic magnetization modes down to the nanoscale with spatial, temporal and chemical resolution. This length scale, in combination with 10 GHz dynamic range, is crucial for the development of post-CMOS magnetic logic and memory devices. We are certain that it will have a significant impact on the wider scientific community.
The DFMR experiments were carried out in RASOR on beamline I10 at Diamond (proposal number SI18898). Financial support through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/N032128/1 is gratefully acknowledged.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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