arXiv subjects

D. Suess

Publications and source records attributed to D. Suess.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Ultrafast Laser-Induced Magnetic Relaxation in Artificial Spin Ice Driven by Dipolar Interactions

It is of great interest to develop methods to rapidly and effectively control the magnetic configurations in artificial spin ices, which are arrangements of dipolar coupled nanomagnets that have a variety of fascinating collective magnetic phenomena associated with them. This is not only valuable in terms of acquiring fundamental understanding but is also important for future high-performance applications. Here, we demonstrate ultrafast control of magnetic relaxation in square artificial spin ice through femtosecond laser pulsed excitation, enabling rapid access to low-energy states via dipolar interactions. Time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements reveal that, after laser-induced demagnetization, the magnetization recovers within picoseconds. During this brief transient window, dipolar coupling drives a collective magnetic ordering. Ex-situ magnetic force microscopy confirms the emergence of extended Type I vertex domains, characteristic of ground-state ordering, thus establishing ultrafast laser-driven relaxation as a route to attain the low-energy states. Through complementary energy barrier calculations and micromagnetic simulations incorporating Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch dynamics, we elucidate the underlying mechanism: transient ultrafast demagnetization followed by rapid remagnetization that enables a dipolar-driven collective rearrangement. Moreover, a tailored decreasing-fluence laser annealing protocol is shown to enhance ground-state ordering, consistently achieving over 92% ground-state vertex populations. This work opens the way to ultrafast and spatially selective control of magnetic states in artificial spin ice for spin-based computation and memory technologies, and highlights the critical interplay of thermal fluctuations, magnetostatic coupling, and transient magnetization dynamics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Approaching the Physical Limits of Specific Absorption Rate in Hyperthermia Applications

Magnetic nanoparticle-based hyperthermia has emerged as a promising therapeutic modality for treating malignant solid tumors that exhibit resistance to conventional cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation. Despite the clinical approval of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for the adjunct treatment of recurrent glioblastoma, their therapeutic potential is undercut by chemical synthesis-inherent limitations such as low saturation magnetization, superparamagnetic characteristics, and a wide nanoparticle size distribution. Here, we introduce an micromagnetic modelling-based SAF-MDP design with in-plane magnetization, optimized through specific uniaxial anisotropy adjustments to avert the spin-flop phenomenon and eliminate hysteresis-free hard-axis magnetization loops, paired with a mechanofluidic modeling approach to assess the alignment of the SAF-MDP to the applied alternating magnetic field (AMF). Magnetic Force Microscopy characterization provides unprecedented insights into the particle switching behaviour on a single particle scale. This comprehensive strategy spanning micromagnetics and advanced magnetic characterization enables the design of particles with heating efficiencies to approach the theoretical maximum, dictated by the saturation magnetization of the utilized materials and limited solely by the biologically acceptable frequencies and amplitudes of the oscillating magnetic field. Our work not only addresses the limitations encountered by previous methodologies but also sets the stage for the development of advanced SAF-MDP designs and alignment techniques. This opens a new avenue to hyperthermia-based cancer therapy, delineated only by the boundaries of physical laws and biological safety standards.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Roadmap on Spin-Wave Computing

Magnonics is a field of science that addresses the physical properties of spin waves and utilizes them for data processing. Scalability down to atomic dimensions, operations in the GHz-to-THz frequency range, utilization of nonlinear and nonreciprocal phenomena, and compatibility with CMOS are just a few of many advantages offered by magnons. Although magnonics is still primarily positioned in the academic domain, the scientific and technological challenges of the field are being extensively investigated, and many proof-of-concept prototypes have already been realized in laboratories. This roadmap is a product of the collective work of many authors that covers versatile spin-wave computing approaches, conceptual building blocks, and underlying physical phenomena. In particular, the roadmap discusses the computation operations with Boolean digital data, unconventional approaches like neuromorphic computing, and the progress towards magnon-based quantum computing. The article is organized as a collection of sub-sections grouped into seven large thematic sections. Each sub-section is prepared by one or a group of authors and concludes with a brief description of the current challenges and the outlook of the further development of the research directions.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2021

Domain wall automotion in three-dimensional magnetic helical interconnectors

The fundamental limits currently faced by traditional computing devices necessitate the exploration of new ways to store, compute and transmit information. Here, we propose a three-dimensional (3D) magnetic interconnector that exploits geometry-driven automotion of domain walls (DWs), for the transfer of magnetic information between functional magnetic planes. By combining state-of-the-art 3D nanoprinting and standard physical vapor deposition, we prototype 3D helical DW conduits. We observe the automotion of DWs by imaging their magnetic state under different field sequences using X-ray microscopy, observing a robust unidirectional motion of DWs from the bottom to the top of the spirals. From experiments and micromagnetic simulations, we determine that the large thickness gradients present in the structure are the main mechanism for 3D DW automotion. We obtain direct evidence of how this tailorable magnetic energy gradient is imprinted in the devices, and how it competes with pinning effects due to local changes in the energy landscape. Our work also predicts how this effect could lead to high DW velocities, reaching the Walker limit during automotion. This work provides new possibilities for efficient transfer of magnetic information in three dimensions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Computational Micromagnetics based on Normal Modes: bridging the gap between macrospin and full spatial discretization

The Landau-Lifshitz equation governing magnetization dynamics is written in terms of the amplitudes of normal modes associated with the micromagnetic system's appropriate ground state. This results in a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs), the right-hand side of which can be expressed as the sum of a linear term and nonlinear terms with increasing order of nonlinearity (quadratic, cubic, etc.). The application of the method to nanostructured magnetic systems demonstrates that the accurate description of magnetization dynamics requires a limited number of normal modes, which results in a considerable improvement in computational speed. The proposed method can be used to obtain a reduced-order dynamical description of magnetic nanostructures which allows to adjust the accuracy between low-dimensional models, such as macrospin, and micromagnetic models with full spatial discretization. This new paradigm for micromagnetic simulations is tested for three problems relevant to the areas of spintronics and magnonics: directional spin-wave coupling in magnonic waveguides, high power ferromagnetic resonance in a magnetic nanodot, and injection-locking in spin-torque nano-oscillators. The case studies considered demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach to systematically obtain an intermediate order dynamical model based on normal modes for the analysis of magnetic nanosystems. The time-consuming calculation of the normal modes has to be done only one time for the system. These modes can be used to optimize and predict the system response for all possible time-varying external excitations (magnetic fields, spin currents). This is of utmost importance for applications where fast and accurate system simulations are required, such as in electronic circuits including magnetic devices.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2021

Micromagnetic modelling of magnetic domain walls in curved cylindrical nanotubes and nanowires

We investigate the effect of curvature on the energy and stability of domain wall configurations in curved cylindrical nanotubes and nanowires. We use micromagnetic simulations to calculate the phase diagram for the transverse wall (TW) and vortex wall (VW) states in tubes, finding the ground state configuration and the metastability region where both types of walls can exist. The introduction of curvature shifts the range for which the TW is the ground state domain wall to higher diameters, and increases the range of metastability. We interpret this behavior to be primarily due to the curvature-induced effective Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya term in the exchange energy. Furthermore, we demonstrate qualitatively the same behavior in solid cylindrical nanowires. Comparing both tubes and wires, we observe how while in tubes curvature tends to suppress the transformation from the TW to VW, in wires it promotes the transformation of the VW containing the Bloch point into the TW. These findings have important implications in the fundamental understanding of domain walls in 3D geometries, and the design of future domain wall devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Path sampling for lifetimes of metastable magnetic skyrmions and direct comparison with Kramers' method

We perform a direct comparison between Kramers' method in many dimensions -- i.e., Langer's theory -- adapted to magnetic spin systems, and a path sampling method in the form of forward flux sampling, as a means to compute collapse rates of metastable magnetic skyrmions. We show that a good agreement is obtained between the two methods. We report variations of the attempt frequency associated with skyrmion collapse by three to four orders of magnitude when varying the applied magnetic field by 5$\%$ of the exchange strength, which confirms the existence of a strong entropic contribution to the lifetime of skyrmions. This demonstrates that in complex systems, the knowledge of the rate prefactor, in addition to the internal energy barrier, is essential in order to properly estimate a lifetime.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Additive Manufactured and Topology Optimized Passive Shimming Elements for Permanent Magnetic Systems

A method to create a highly homogeneous magnetic field by applying topology optimized, additively manufactured shimming elements is investigated. The topology optimization algorithm can calculate a suitable permanent and nonlinear soft magnetic design that fulfills the desired field properties. The permanent magnetic particles are bonded in a polyamide matrix, and they are manufactured with a low-cost, end-user 3D printer. Stray field measurements and an inverse stray field simulation framework can determine printing and magnetization errors. The customized shimming elements are manufactured by a selective melting process which produces completely dense soft magnetic metal parts. The methodology is demonstrated on an example of two axial symmetric cylindrical magnets. In this case, the homogeneity can be increased by a factor of 35. Simulation and measurement results point out a good conformity.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Thermal stability of metastable magnetic skyrmions: Entropic narrowing and significance of internal eigenmodes

We compute annihilation rates of metastable magnetic skyrmions using a form of Langer's theory in the intermediate-to-high damping (IHD) regime. For a N\'eel skyrmion, a Bloch skyrmion, and an antiskyrmion, we look at two possible paths to annihilation: collapse and escape through a boundary. We also study the effects of a curved vs. a flat boundary, a second skyrmion and a non-magnetic defect. We find that the skyrmion's internal modes play a dominant role in the thermally activated transitions compared to the spin-wave excitations and that the relative contribution of internal modes depends on the nature of the transition process. Our calculations for a small skyrmion stabilized at zero-field show that collapse on a defect is the most probable path. In the absence of a defect, the annihilation is largely dominated by escape mechanisms, even though in this case the activation energy is higher than that of collapse processes. Escape through a flat boundary is found more probable than through a curved boundary. The potential source of stability of metastable skyrmions is therefore found not to lie in high activation energies, nor in the dynamics at the transition state, but comes from entropic narrowing in the saddle point region which leads to lowered attempt frequencies. This narrowing effect is found to be primarily associated with the skyrmion's internal modes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Effective uniaxial anisotropy in easy-plane materials through nanostructuring

Permanent magnet materials require a high uniaxial magneto-crystalline anisotropy. Exchange coupling between small crystallites with easy-plane anisotropy induces an effective uniaxial anisotropy if arranged accordingly. Nanostructuring of materials with easy-plane anisotropy is an alternative way to create hard-magnetic materials. The coercivity increases with decreasing feature size. The resulting coercive field is about 12 percent of the anisotropy field for a crystal size of 3.4 times the Bloch parameter.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Roughness-induced domain structure in perpendicular Co/Ni multilayers

We investigate the correlation between roughness, remanence and coercivity in Co/Ni films grown on Cu seed layers of varying thickness. Increasing the Cu seed layer thickness of Ta/Cu/8x[Co/Ni] thin films increases the roughness of the films. In-plane magnetization loops show that both the remanance and coercivity increase with increasing seed layer roughness. Polar Kerr microscopy and magnetic force microscopy reveal that the domain density also increases with roughness. Finite element micromagnetic simulations performed on structures with periodically modulated surfaces provide further insight. They confirm the connection between domain density and roughness, and identify the microsocpic structure of the domain walls as the source of the increased remanence in rough films. The simulations predict that the character of the domain walls changes from Bloch-like in smooth films to Néel-like for rougher films.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Conjugate gradient methods in micromagnetics

Conjugate gradient methods for energy minimization in micromagnetics are compared. When the step length in the line search is controlled, conjugate gradient techniques are a fast and reliable way to compute the hysteresis properties of permanent magnets. The method is applied to investigate demagnetizing effects in NdFe12 based permanent magnets. The reduction of the coercive field by demagnetizing effects is 1.4 T at 450 K.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Calculation of coercivity of magnetic nanostructures at finite temperatures

We report a finite temperature micromagnetic method (FTM) that allows for the calculation of the coercive field of arbitrary shaped magnetic nanostructures at time scales of nanoseconds to years. Instead of directly solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, the coercive field is obtained without any free parameter by solving a non linear equation, which arises from the transition state theory. The method is applicable to magnetic structures where coercivity is determined by one thermally activated reversal or nucleation process. The method shows excellent agreement with experimentally obtained coercive fields of magnetic nanostructures and provides a deeper understanding of the mechanism of coercivity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Direct calculation of the attempt frequency of magnetic structures using the finite element method

A numerical implementation of the transition state theory (TST) is presented which can be used to calculate the attempt frequency $f_{0}$ of arbitrary shaped magnetic nanostructures. The micromagnetic equations are discretized using the finite element method. The climbing image nudged elastic band method is used to calculate the saddle point configuration, which is required for the calculation of $f_{0}$. Excellent agreement of the implemented numerical model and analytical solutions is obtained for single domain particles. The developed method is applied to compare $f_{0}$ for single phase and graded media grains of advanced recording media. $f_{0}$ is predicted to be comparable if the maximum anisotropy is the same in these two media types.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Exchange coupled perpendicular media

The potential of exchange spring bilayers and graded media is reviewed. An analytical model for the optimization of graded media gives an optimal value of the magnetic polarization of Js = 0.8 T. The optimum design allows for thermally stable grains with grain diameters in the order of 3.3 nm, which supports ultra high density up to 5 to 10 Tbit per inch2. The switching field distribution is significantly reduced in bilayer media and graded media compared to single phase media. For the graded media the switching field distribution is reduced by about a factor of two. For bilayer media the minimum switching field distribution is obtained for soft layer anisotropies about one fifth of the hard layer anisotropy. The influence of precessional switching on the reversal time and the reversal field is investigated in detail for magnetic bilayers. Exchange spring bilayers can be reversed with field pulses of 20 ps.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Mutual phase-locking in high frequency microwave nanooscillators as function of field angle

We perform a qualitative analysis of phase locking in a double point-contact spinvalve system by solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Slonzewski equation using a hybrid-finite-element method. We show that the phase-locking behaviour depends on the applied field angle. Starting from a low field angle, the locking-current difference between the current through contact A and B increases with increasing angle up to a maximum of 14 mA at 30 degree and it decreases thereafter until it reaches a minimum of 1 mA at 75 degree. The tunability of the phase-lock frequency with current decreases linearly with increasing out of plane angle from 45 to 21 MHz/mA.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗