Magnetic Roughness and Domain Correlations in Antiferromagnetically Coupled Multilayers

TL;DR

This study uses neutron scattering to analyze magnetic domain correlations and disorder in multilayer antiferromagnetic materials, revealing highly correlated vertical domain structures and linking microscopic properties to macroscopic magnetization and transport behaviors.

Contribution

Introduces a new theoretical framework connecting neutron scattering data to in-plane correlation lengths and magnetization dispersion in multilayer antiferromagnets.

Findings

Highly correlated vertical domain structures in multilayers

Connection between neutron scattering data and macroscopic magnetization

Magnetic disorder characterized by in-plane correlation lengths

Abstract

The in-plane correlation lengths and magnetic disorder of magnetic domains in a transition metal multilayer have been studied using neutron scattering techniques. A new theoretical framework is presented connecting the observed scattering to the in-plane correlation length and the dispersion of the local magnetization vector about the mean macroscopic direction. The results unambiguously show the highly correlated nature of the antiferromagnetically coupled domain structure vertically throughout the multilayer. We are easily able to relate the neutron determined magnetic dispersion and domain correlations to magnetization and magnetotransport experiments.