Topological defects and misfit strain in magnetic stripe domains of lateral multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

TL;DR

This paper investigates how topological defects and misfit strain influence magnetic stripe domains in nanostructured films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, revealing continuous structural transformations and controllable magnetization reversal.

Contribution

It introduces the first experimental observation of grain boundary transformations in 2D magnetic crystals influenced by misfit strain and shape anisotropy.

Findings

Continuous structural transformation of grain boundaries observed.

Magnetization reversal can be tailored via misfit strain.

Coupling between disclinations and domain walls affects magnetic behavior.

Abstract

Stripe domains are studied in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy films nanostructured with a periodic thickness modulation that induces the lateral modulation of both stripe periods and inplane magnetization. The resulting system is the 2D equivalent of a strained superlattice with properties controlled by interfacial misfit strain within the magnetic stripe structure and shape anisotropy. This allows us to observe, experimentally for the first time, the continuous structural transformation of a grain boundary in this 2D magnetic crystal in the whole angular range. The magnetization reversal process can be tailored through the effect of misfit strain due to the coupling between disclinations in the magnetic stripe pattern and domain walls in the in-plane magnetization configuration.