Simultaneous control of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and magnetic anisotropy in nanomagnetic trilayers

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that Ar+ irradiation can independently tune the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and magnetic anisotropy in nanomagnetic trilayers, enabling precise control for advanced chiral nanomagnetic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to simultaneously control DMI and magnetic anisotropy in trilayers using Ar+ irradiation, with a new physical model for domain wall velocity measurement.

Findings

DMI sign and magnitude can be tuned independently of magnetic anisotropy.

A physical model for domain wall velocity peaks at zero in-plane field is proposed.

Ar+ irradiation enables spatially resolved control of DMI in nanostructures.

Abstract

Magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy measurements of magnetic bubble domains demonstrate that Ar+ irradiation around 100 eV can tune the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in Pt/Co/Pt trilayers. Varying the irradiation energy and dose changes the DMI sign and magnitude separately from the magnetic anisotropy, allowing tuning of the DMI while holding the coercive field constant. This simultaneous control emphasizes the different physical origins of these effects. To accurately measure the DMI, we propose and apply a physical model for a poorly understood peak in domain wall velocity at zero in-plane field. The ability to tune the DMI with the spatial resolution of the Ar+ irradiation enables new fundamental investigations and technological applications of chiral nanomagnetics.