arXiv subjects

Stefania Pizzini

Publications and source records attributed to Stefania Pizzini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Anisotropic domain wall velocity profiles in the creep regime: the interplay of chiral damping, stiffness and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

The asymmetric expansion of magnetic bubble domains in ultrathin ferromagnets provides a powerful route to probe the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). While conventional analyses rely on domain wall velocities measured along selected directions as a function of in-plane field, recent approaches have highlighted the additional insight contained in the angular dependence of the velocity, $v(\theta)$. Here, we develop an extended angular creep model that incorporates both the dispersive domain wall stiffness and a chirality-dependent prefactor associated with chiral damping. This generalization captures the full anisotropic dynamics of domain wall motion around a bubble domain. We show that these contributions significantly modify the angular velocity profile and can lead to features not accessible within existing models. Our results establish a more complete framework for interpreting creep-driven domain expansion and provide improved sensitivity for the quantitative extraction of DMI and chiral dynamical effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Soft x-rays with Orbital Angular Momentum for resonant scattering experiments at the SOLEIL synchrotron

The paper presents a comprehensive description of a new setup implemented and commissioned at the SEXTANTS beamline of the SOLEIL synchrotron for absorption and scattering experiments with x-ray beams carrying an orbital angular momentum, also known as twisted x-ray beams. Two alternative methods have been implemented, based on the use of either spiral zone plates or fork gratings devices, and we show how they can be used for both defining and assessing the orbital angular momentum of an x-ray beam. We show also how multiple devices can be used in sequence to define an integer arithmetic of the orbital angular momentum of the final x-ray beam. Finally, we report the results of the first resonant scattering pilot experiments in transmission and reflection mode, intended to assess the feasibility of future users measurements. The availability of twisted soft x-rays complements the range of experimental techniques in elastic, resonant and coherent scattering available at the SEXTANTS beamline of the SOLEIL synchrotron.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction chirality reversal with ferromagnetic thickness

In ultrathin ferromagnetic films sandwiched between two distinct heavy metal layers or between a heavy metal and an oxide layer, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) is of interfacial origin. Its chirality and strength are determined by the properties of the adjacent heavy metals and the degree of oxidation at the interfaces. Here, we demonstrate that the DMI chirality can change solely with variations in the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer - an effect that has not been experimentally studied in details or explained until now. Our experimental observation in the trilayer system Ta/FeCoB/TaOx is supported by ab initio calculations: they reveal that variations in orbital filling and inter-atomic distances at the interface, driven by the structural relaxations in the ultrathin regime, lead to an inversion of DMI chirality. We hence propose a new degree of freedom to tune DMI chirality and the associated chiral spin textures by tailoring crystal structure e.g. using strain or surface acoustic waves.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Fast current-induced skyrmion motion in synthetic antiferromagnets

Magnetic skyrmions are topological magnetic textures that hold great promise as nanoscale bits of information in memory and logic devices. Although room-temperature ferromagnetic skyrmions and their current-induced manipulation have been demonstrated, their velocity has been limited to about 100 meters per second. In addition, their dynamics are perturbed by the skyrmion Hall effect, a motion transverse to the current direction caused by the skyrmion topological charge. Here, we show that skyrmions in compensated synthetic antiferromagnets can be moved by current along the current direction at velocities of up to 900 meters per second. This can be explained by the cancellation of the net topological charge leading to a vanishing skyrmion Hall effect. Our results open an important path toward the realization of logic and memory devices based on the fast manipulation of skyrmions in tracks.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Electrical detection and nucleation of a magnetic skyrmion in a magnetic tunnel junction observed via operando magnetic microscopy

Magnetic skyrmions are topological spin textures which are envisioned as nanometre scale information carriers in magnetic memory and logic devices. The recent demonstration of room temperature stabilization of skyrmions and their current induced manipulation in industry compatible ultrathin films were first steps towards the realisation of such devices. However, important challenges remain regarding the electrical detection and the low-power nucleation of skyrmions, which are required for the read and write operations. Here, we demonstrate, using operando magnetic microscopy experiments, the electrical detection of a single magnetic skyrmion in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and its nucleation and annihilation by gate voltage via voltage control of magnetic anisotropy. The nucleated skyrmion can be further manipulated by both gate voltage and external magnetic field, leading to tunable intermediate resistance states. Our results unambiguously demonstrate the readout and voltage controlled write operations in a single MTJ device, which is a major milestone for low power skyrmion based technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Improving Néel domain walls dynamics and skyrmion stability using He ion irradiation

Magnetization reversal and domain wall dynamics in Pt/Co/AlOx trilayers have been tuned by He+ ion irradiation. Fluences up to 1.5x10$^{15}$ ions/cm$^2$ strongly decrease the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), without affecting neither the spontaneous magnetization nor the strength of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). This confirms the robustness of the DMI interaction against interfacial chemical intermixing, already predicted by theory. In parallel with the decrease of the PMA in the irradiated samples, a strong decrease of the depinning field is observed. This allows the domain walls to reach large maximum velocities with lower magnetic fields with respect to those needed for the pristine films. Decoupling PMA from DMI can therefore be beneficial for the design of low energy devices based on domain wall dynamics. When the samples are irradiated with larger He+ fluences, the magnetization gets close to the out-of-plane/in-plane reorientation transition where 100nm size magnetic skyrmions are stabilized. We observe that as the He+ fluence increases, the skyrmion size decreases while these magnetic textures become more stable against the application of an external magnetic field.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Control of domain wall and pinning disorder interaction by light He$^+$ ion irradiation in Pt/Co/AlOx ultrathin films

We have studied the effect of He$^+$ irradiation on the dynamics of chiral domain walls in Pt/Co/AlOx trilayers in the creep regime. The irradiation leads to a strong decrease of the depinning field and a non-monotonous change of the effective pinning barriers. The variations of domain wall dynamics result essentially from the strong decrease of the effective anisotropy constant, which increases the domain wall width. The latter is found to present a perfect scaling with the length-scale of the interaction between domain wall and disorder, $ξ$. On the other hand, the strength of the domain wall-disorder interaction, $f_{pin}$, is weakly impacted by the irradiation, suggesting that the length-scales of the disorder fluctuation remain smaller than the domain wall width.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Gate-controlled skyrmion and domain wall chirality

Magnetic skyrmions are localized chiral spin textures, which offer great promise to store and process information at the nanoscale. In the presence of asymmetric exchange interactions, their chirality, which governs their dynamics, is generally considered as an intrinsic parameter set during the sample deposition. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate that a gate voltage can control this key parameter. We probe the chirality of skyrmions and chiral domain walls by observing the direction of their current-induced motion and show that a gate voltage can reverse it. This local and dynamical reversal of the chirality is due to a sign inversion of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction that we attribute to ionic migration of oxygen under gate voltage. Micromagnetic simulations show that the chirality reversal is a continuous transformation, in which the skyrmion is conserved. This control of chirality with 2 - 3 V gate voltage can be used for skyrmion-based logic devices, yielding new functionalities.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Tuning the dynamics of chiral domain walls of ferrimagnetic films with the magneto-ionic effect

The manipulation of magnetism with a gate voltage is expected to lead the way towards the realization of energy-efficient spintronics devices and high-performance magnetic memories. Exploiting magneto-ionic effects under micro-patterned electrodes in solid-state devices adds the possibility to modify magnetic properties locally, in a non-volatile and reversible way. Tuning magnetic anisotropy, magnetization and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction allows modifying at will the dynamics of non trivial magnetic textures such as skyrmions and chiral domain walls in magnetic race tracks. In this work, we illustrate efficient magneto-ionic effects in a ferrimagnetic Pt/Co/Tb stack using a ZrO2 thin layer as a solid state ionic conductor. When a thin layer of terbium is deposited on top of cobalt, it acquires a magnetic moment that aligns antiparallel to that of cobalt, reducing the effective magnetization. Below the micro-patterned electrodes, the voltage-driven migration of oxygen ions in a ZrO2 towards the ferrimagnetic stack partially oxidizes the Tb layer, leading to the local variation not only of the spontaneous magnetization, but also of the effective magnetic anisotropy and of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. This leads to a huge increase of the domain wall velocity, which varies from 10 m/s in the pristine state to 250 m/s after gating. This non-volatile and reversible tuning of the domain wall dynamics may lead to applications to reprogrammable magnetic memories or other spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Element-selective modulation of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in Pt|Co|Metal based multilayers

Despite a decade of research, the precise mechanisms occurring at interfaces underlying the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), and thus the possibility of fine-tuning it, are not yet fully identified. In this study, we investigate the origin of the interfacial DMI, aiming at disentangling how independent are the interfaces around the ferromagnetic layer, and what are their relative contributions to the effective DMI amplitude. For this purpose, we have grown and investigated a large variety of systems with a common structure Pt$|$Co$|M$ with $M =$ Ni, Pd, Ru, Al, Al$|$Ta and MoSi. We explore the correlation between the effective interfacial DMI, and different intrinsic properties of metals, namely atomic number, electronegativity and work function difference at the Co$|M$ interfaces. We find a linear relationship between interfacial DMI and the work function difference between the two elements, hence relating the nature of this behavior to the interfacial potential gradient at the metallic interfaces. The understanding of the DMI mechanism is of utmost importance since it opens up the possibility of precisely engineering the magnetic and hence the spintronic properties for future devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Current-driven domain wall dynamics in ferrimagnetic Ni-doped Mn4N films : very large domain wall velocities and reversal of motion direction across the magnetic compensation point

Spin-transfer torque (STT) and spin-orbit torque (SOT) are spintronic phenomena allowing magnetization manipulation using electrical currents. Beyond their fundamental interest, they allow developing new classes of magnetic memories and logic devices, in particular based on domain wall (DW) motion. In this work, we report the study of STT driven DW motion in ferrimagnetic manganese nickel nitride (Mn4-xNixN) films, in which a fine adjustment of the Ni content allows setting the magnetic compensation at room temperature. The reduced magnetization, combined with the large spin polarization of conduction electrons, strongly enhances the STT so that domain wall velocities approaching 3000 m/s can be obtained for Ni compositions close to the compensation point. In addition, a reversal of the domain wall motion direction is observed when the magnetic compensation composition is crossed. This striking feature, related to the change of direction of the spin polarization with respect to that of the net magnetization, is clarified by ab initio band structure calculations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Anisotropic skyrmion bubbles in ultra-thin epitaxial Au$_{0.67}$Pt$_{0.33}$/Co/W films

We studied the symmetry of magnetic properties and the resulting magnetic textures in ultra-thin epitaxial Au$_{0.67}$Pt$_{0.33}$/Co/W, a model system exhibiting perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and interface Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). As a peculiar feature, the C$_\mathrm{2v}$ crystal symmetry induced by the Co/W interface results in an additional uniaxial in-plane magnetic anisotropy in the cobalt layer. Photoemission electron microscopy with magnetic sensitivity reveals the formation of self-organized magnetic stripe domains oriented parallel to the hard in-plane magnetization axis. We attribute this behavior to the lower domain wall energy when oriented along this axis, where both the DMI and the in-plane magnetic anisotropy favor a Néel domain wall configuration. The anisotropic domain wall energy also leads to the formation of elliptical skyrmion bubbles in a weak out-of-plane magnetic field.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Reversible vs. irreversible voltage manipulation of interfacial magnetic anisotropy in Pt/Co/oxide multilayers

The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at the Co/oxide interface in Pt/Co/MOx (MOx = MgOx, AlOx, TbOx) was modified by an electric field using a 10 nm-thick ZrO2 as a solid electrolyte. The large voltage-driven modification of interfacial magnetic anisotropy and the non-volatility of the effect is explained in terms of the migration of oxygen ions towards/away from the Co/MOx interface. While the effect is reversible in Pt/Co/AlOx and Pt/Co/TbOx, where the Co layer can be oxidised or reduced, in Pt/Co/MgOx the effect has been found to be irreversible. We propose that these differences may be related to the different nature of the ionic conduction within the MOx layers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Current-Driven Skyrmion Dynamics and Drive-Dependent Skyrmion Hall Effect in an Ultrathin Film

Magnetic skyrmions are chiral spin textures that hold great promise as nanoscale information carriers. Since their first observation at room temperature, progress has been made in their current-induced manipulation, with fast motion reported in stray-field-coupled multilayers. However, the complex spin textures with hybrid chiralities and large power dissipation in these multilayers limit their practical implementation and the fundamental understanding of their dynamics. Here, we report on the current-driven motion of Néel skyrmions with diameters in the 100-nm range in an ultrathin Pt/Co/MgO trilayer. We find that these skyrmions can be driven at a speed of 100 m/s and exhibit a drive-dependent skyrmion Hall effect, which is accounted for by the effect of pinning. Our experiments are well substantiated by an analytical model of the skyrmion dynamics as well as by micromagnetic simulations including material inhomogeneities. This good agreement is enabled by the simple skyrmion spin structure in our system and a thorough characterization of its static and dynamical properties.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Millimeter-sized magnetic domains in perpendicularly magnetized ferrimagnetic Mn4N thin films grown on SrTiO3

The use of epitaxial layers for domain wall-based spintronic applications is often hampered by the presence of pinning sites. Here, we show that when depositing Mn4N(10 nm) epitaxial films, the replacement of MgO(001) by SrTiO3(001) substrates allows minimizing the misfit, and to obtain an improved crystalline quality, a sharper switching, a full remanence, a high anisotropy and remarkable millimeter-sized magnetic domains, with straight and smooth domain walls. In a context of rising interest for current-induced domain wall motion in rare

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Large voltage tuning of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction: a route towards dynamic control of skyrmion chirality

Electric control of magnetism is a prerequisite for efficient and low power spintronic devices. More specifically, in heavy metal/ ferromagnet/ insulator heterostructures, voltage gating has been shown to locally and dynamically tune magnetic properties like interface anisotropy and saturation magnetization. However, its effect on interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction (DMI), which is crucial for the stability of magnetic skyrmions, has been challenging to achieve and has not been reported yet for ultrathin films. Here, we demonstrate 130% variation of DMI with electric field in Ta/FeCoB/TaOx trilayers through Brillouin Light Spectroscopy (BLS). Using polar- Magneto-Optical-Kerr-Effect microscopy, we further show a monotonic variation of DMI and skyrmionic bubble size with electric field, with an unprecedented efficiency. We anticipate through our observations that a sign reversal of DMI with electric field is possible, leading to a chirality switch. This dynamic manipulation of DMI establishes an additional degree of control to engineer programmable skyrmion based memory or logic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Velocity enhancement by synchronization of magnetic domain walls

Magnetic domain walls are objects whose dynamics is inseparably connected to their structure. In this work we investigate magnetic bilayers, which are engineered such that a coupled pair of domain walls, one in each layer, is stabilized by a cooperation of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and flux-closing mechanism. The dipolar field mediating the interaction between the two domain walls, links not only their position but also their structure. We show that this link has a direct impact on their magnetic field induced dynamics. We demonstrate that in such a system the coupling leads to an increased domain wall velocity with respect to single domain walls. Since the domain wall dynamics is observed in a precessional regime, the dynamics involves the synchronization between the two walls, to preserve the flux closure during motion. Properties of these coupled oscillating walls can be tuned by an additional in-plane magnetic field enabling a rich variety of states, from perfect synchronization to complete detuning.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Unravelling Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and chiral nature of Graphene/Cobalt interface

A major challenge for future spintronics is to develop suitable spin transport channels with long spin lifetime and propagation length. Graphene can meet these requirements, even at room temperature. On the other side, taking advantage of the fast motion of chiral textures, i.e., Néel-type domain walls and magnetic skyrmions, can satisfy the demands for high-density data storage, low power consumption and high processing speed. We have engineered epitaxial structures where an epitaxial ferromagnetic Co layer is sandwiched between an epitaxial Pt(111) buffer grown in turn onto MgO(111) substrates and a graphene layer. We provide evidence of a graphene-induced enhancement of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy up to 4 nm thick Co films, and of the existence of chiral left-handed Néel-type domain walls stabilized by the effective Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in the stack. The experiments show evidence of a sizeable DMI at the gr/Co interface, which is described in terms of a conduction electron mediated Rashba-DMI mechanism and points opposite to the Spin Orbit Coupling-induced DMI at the Co/Pt interface. In addition, the presence of graphene results in: i) a surfactant action for the Co growth, producing an intercalated, flat, highly perfect fcc film, pseudomorphic with Pt and ii) an efficient protection from oxidation. The magnetic chiral texture is stable at room temperature and grown on insulating substrate. Our findings open new routes to control chiral spin structures using interfacial engineering in graphene-based systems for future spin-orbitronics devices fully integrated on oxide substrates.

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