Mocuta Cristian, Bonamy Daniel, Stanescu Stefan, El Moussaoui Souliman, Barbier Antoine, Montaigne François, Maccherozzi Francesco, Bauer Ernst, Belkhou Rachid
Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers Saint Aubin, BP 48, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
DRF/IRAMIS/SPEC, CEA-CNRS-Univeristy Paris Saclay, CEA-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Sci Rep. 2017 Dec 5;7(1):16970. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-17251-y.
MnAs epitaxial thin films on GaAs(001) single crystalline substrates crystallize at room temperature (RT) in a mixture of two crystalline phases with distinct magnetic properties, organized as stripes along the MnAs [0001] direction. This particular morphology is driven by anisotropic epitaxial strain. We elucidate here the physical mechanisms at the origin of size reduction effect on the MnAs crystalline phase transition. We investigated the structural and magnetic changes in MnAs patterned microstructures (confined geometry) when the lateral dimension is reduced to values close to the periodicity and width of the stripes observed in continuous films. The effects of the microstructure's lateral size, shape and orientation (with respect to the MnAs [Formula: see text] direction) were characterized by local probe synchrotron X-ray diffraction (μ-XRD) using a focused X-ray beam, X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroïsm - Photo Emission Electron Microscopy (XMCD-PEEM) and Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM). Changes in the transition temperature and the crystalline phase distribution inside the microstructures are evidenced and quantitatively measured. The effect of finite size and strain relaxation on the magnetic domain structure is also discussed. Counter-intuitively, we demonstrate here that below a critical microstructure size, bulk MnAs structural and magnetic properties are restored. To support our observations we developed, tested and validated a model based on the size-dependence of the elastic energy and strain relaxation to explain this phase re-distribution in laterally confined geometry.
在 GaAs(001) 单晶晶衬底上的 MnAs 外延薄膜在室温(RT)下结晶为具有不同磁性能的两种晶相的混合物,沿 MnAs [0001] 方向呈条纹状排列。这种特殊的形态是由各向异性外延应变驱动的。我们在此阐明了 MnAs 晶相转变中尺寸减小效应起源的物理机制。当横向尺寸减小到接近连续薄膜中观察到的条纹周期和宽度的值时,我们研究了 MnAs 图案化微结构(受限几何形状)中的结构和磁性变化。通过使用聚焦 X 射线束的局部探针同步加速器 X 射线衍射(μ-XRD)、X 射线磁圆二色性 - 光发射电子显微镜(XMCD-PEEM)和低能电子显微镜(LEEM)来表征微结构的横向尺寸、形状和取向(相对于 MnAs [公式:见正文] 方向)的影响。微结构内部转变温度和晶相分布的变化得到了证实并进行了定量测量。还讨论了有限尺寸和应变弛豫对磁畴结构的影响。与直觉相反,我们在此证明,在低于临界微结构尺寸时,块状 MnAs 的结构和磁性性能得以恢复。为了支持我们的观察结果,我们开发、测试并验证了一个基于弹性能量和应变弛豫的尺寸依赖性的模型,以解释横向受限几何形状中的这种相重新分布。