Observation of magnetic skyrmions in unpatterned symmetric multilayers at room temperature and zero magnetic field.

Magnetic skyrmions are promising candidates for the next generation of spintronic devices due to their small size and topologically protected structure. One challenge for using these magnetic states in applications lies on controlling the nucleation process and stabilization that usually requires an external force. Here, we report on the evidence of skyrmions in unpatterned symmetric Pd/Co/Pd multilayers at room temperature without prior application of neither electric current nor magnetic field. Decreasing the ferromagnetic interlayer thickness, the tuning of the physical properties across the ferromagnetic/non-magnetic interface gives rise to a transition from worm like domains patterns to isolated skyrmions as demonstrated by magnetic force microscopy. On the direct comparison of the measured and simulated skyrmions size, the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (iDMI) was estimated, reveling that isolated skyrmions are just stabilized at zero magnetic field taking into account non-null values of iDMI. Our findings provide new insights towards the use of stabilized skyrmions for room temperature devices in nominally symmetric multilayers.

Experimental and theoretical evidences for the ice regime in planar artificial spin ices.

In this work, we explore a kind of geometrical effect in the thermodynamics of artificial spin ices (ASI). In general, such artificial materials are athermal. Here, We demonstrate that geometrically driven dynamics in ASI can open up the panorama of exploring distinct ground states and thermally magnetic monopole excitations. It is shown that a particular ASI lattice will provide a richer thermodynamics with nanomagnet spins experiencing less restriction to flip precisely in a kind of rhombic lattice. This can be observed by analysis of only three types of rectangular artificial spin ices (RASI). Denoting the horizontal and vertical lattice spacings by [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively, then, a RASI material can be described by its aspect ratio [Formula: see text]. The rhombic lattice emerges when [Formula: see text]. So, by comparing the impact of thermal effects on the spin flips in these three appropriate different RASI arrays, it is possible to find a system very close to the ice regime.

Incipient orbital order in half-metallic Ba2FeReO6.

Largely unquenched Re 5d orbital magnetic moments in half-metallic Ba2FeReO6 drive a symmetry lowering transition from a cubic paramagnet to a compressed tetragonal (c/a < 1) ferrimagnet below Tc ~ 305 K, with a giant linear magnetoelastic constant and the spins lying spontaneously along the unique tetragonal axis. The large orbital magnetization and degree of structural deformation indicate proximity to a metal-insulator transition. These results point to an incipient orbitally ordered state in the metallic ferrimagnetic phase.

A 2.3 to 25 keV XAS beamline at LNLS.

The LNLS XAS beamline has been operating for external users since July 1997. Many facilities and improvements have been progressively added to it, extending the range of applications. Here, a technical description of the main beamline components is given, and results concerning important points, such as available flux at low and high energies, harmonic contamination, energy resolution and stability, are presented. Some key results are given to demonstrate the beamline performance and limitations. It is shown that the beamline can cover a large energy range, starting from the rather low energy of 2.3 keV up to 25 keV.

Structural properties of Cu-Permalloy under annealing.

We have studied the structure of melt-spun copper-permalloy samples (Cu80Fe4Ni16), annealed at several temperatures up to 873 K by means of EXAFS spectroscopy. The results for iron first neighhor average distance showed a slow decrease for annealing temperatures higher than 673 K. The nickel first neighbor distance had almost no change in the whole temperature range. This behavior is discussed in the light of rich iron cluster formation, and is compared with magnetic measurement results.

Commissioning and first results of the LNLS XAFS beamline.

An X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy beamline has been installed and commissioned at a bending-magnet source at LNLS. Three monochromators are available: a channel-cut, a double-crystal and a four-crystal set-up. They have been operated from 2500 up to 15000 eV, with a resolving power better than 5500 in the full range. Photon flux of the order of 10(8) photons s(-1) up to 10(10) photons s(-1) has been attained. The experimental station is equipped with a table that can withstand a weight of 300 kg and track the vertical position of the beam with a 2.5 micro m accuracy over a 120 mm stroke. The beamline has been fully characterized and the first results are presented.