Circularly polarized resonant soft x-ray diffraction study of helical magnetism in hexaferrite

TL;DR

This study uses circularly polarized soft x-ray resonant diffraction to analyze the magnetic helicity in hexaferrite, revealing a direct correlation between the diffraction pattern and spiral helicity, advancing understanding of multiferroic magnetic structures.

Contribution

It provides a novel application of soft x-ray resonant diffraction to determine magnetic spiral helicity in hexaferrite, linking diffraction data with magnetic domain properties.

Findings

Demonstrated correlation between diffracted radiation and magnetic spiral helicity.

Calculated polarization dependence of resonant magnetic x-ray cross-section.

Deduced domain population using circular polarized incident radiation.

Abstract

Magnetic spiral structures can exhibit ferroelectric moments as recently demonstrated in various multiferroic materials. In such cases the helicity of the magnetic spiral is directly correlated with the direction of the ferroelectric moment and measurement of the helicity of magnetic structures is of current interest. Soft x-ray resonant diffraction is particularly advantageous because it combines element selectivity with a large magnetic cross-section. We calculate the polarization dependence of the resonant magnetic x-ray cross-section (electric dipole transition) for the basal plane magnetic spiral in hexaferrite Ba0.8Sr1.2Zn2Fe12O22 and deduce its domain population using circular polarized incident radiation. We demonstrate there is a direct correlation between the diffracted radiation and the helicity of the magnetic spiral.