Transient behavior of the dynamically ordered phase in uniaxial cobalt films.

We study the time dependent magnetic behavior of uniaxial cobalt films in the vicinity of the dynamic phase transition (DPT) as a function of the period P and bias H(b) of an oscillating magnetic field. In addition to the DPT at a critical period P(c), we observe the occurrence of transient behavior for P

Crystallography-driven positive exchange bias in Co/CoO bilayers.

We have studied the temperature dependence of the exchange bias effect in epitaxial Co/CoO bilayer structures with in-plane uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy. We have measured the anisotropic positive exchange bias, which is independent from the initial cooling field value. Synchronous with the occurrence of positive exchange bias, distinct changes in the magnetization reversal process indicate a temperature-dependent rotation of the effective anisotropy and exchange bias axis. Model calculations based upon the electron microscopy-determined epitaxial Co/CoO-interface structure corroborate this interpretation.

Analytical derivation of critical exponents of the dynamic phase transition in the mean-field approximation.

We have analyzed the dynamic phase transition of the kinetic Ising model in mean-field approximation by means of an analytical approach. Specifically, we study the evolution of the system under the simultaneous influence of time-dependent and time-independent magnetic fields. We demonstrate that within the approximate analytical treatment of our approach, the dynamic phase transition exhibits power-law dependencies for the order parameter that have the same critical exponents as the mean-field equilibrium case. Moreover we have obtained an equation of state, with which we can prove that the time-independent field component is effectively the conjugate field of the order parameter. Our analysis is limited to the parameter range, in which only second-order phase transitions occur, i.e., for small applied field amplitudes and temperatures close to the Curie point. In order to ensure the reliability of our analytical results we have corroborated them by comparison to numerical evaluations of the same model.

Correlative infrared-electron nanoscopy reveals the local structure-conductivity relationship in zinc oxide nanowires.

High-resolution characterization methods play a key role in the development, analysis and optimization of nanoscale materials and devices. Because of the various material properties, only a combination of different characterization techniques provides a comprehensive understanding of complex functional materials. Here we introduce correlative infrared-electron nanoscopy, a novel method yielding transmission electron microscope and infrared near-field images of one and the same nanostructure. While transmission electron microscopy provides structural information up to the atomic level, infrared near-field imaging yields nanoscale maps of chemical composition and conductivity. We demonstrate the method's potential by studying the relation between conductivity and crystal structure in ZnO nanowire cross-sections. The combination of infrared conductivity maps and the local crystal structure reveals a radial free-carrier gradient, which inversely correlates to the density of extended crystalline defects. Our method opens new avenues for studying the local interplay between structure, conductivity and chemical composition in widely different material systems.