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arXiv · 0808.3543

Magnetic anisotropy and reversal in epitaxial Fe/MgO(001) films revisited

Qing-feng Zhan·Stijn Vandezande·Kristiaan Temst·Chris Van Haesendonck
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Abstract

We investigate the magnetization reversal in Fe/MgO(001) films with fourfold in-plane magnetic anisotropy and an additional uniaxial anisotropy whose orientation and strength are tuned using different growth geometries and post growth treatments. The previously adopted mechanism of 180^{o} domain wall nucleation clearly fails to explain the observed 180^{o} magnetization reversal. A new reversal mechanism with two successive domain wall nucleations consistently predicts the switching fields for all field orientations. Our results are relevant for a correct interpretation of magnetization reversal in many other epitaxial metallic and semiconducting thin films.

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Qing-feng Zhan, Stijn Vandezande, Kristiaan Temst, Chris Van Haesendonck. 2008-08-26. Magnetic anisotropy and reversal in epitaxial Fe/MgO(001) films revisited. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.80.094416

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