131657 20241125101159.0 doi 10.1063/5.0158119 sideral 137125 ART-2023-137125 eng Cascales Sandoval, Miguel A. Observation and formation mechanism of 360° domain wall rings in synthetic anti-ferromagnets with interlayer chiral interactions 2023 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted The interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (IL-DMI) chirally couples spins in different ferromagnetic layers of multilayer heterostructures. So far, samples with IL-DMI have been investigated utilizing magnetometry and magnetotransport techniques, where the interaction manifests as a tunable chiral exchange bias field. Here, we investigate the nanoscale configuration of the magnetization vector in a synthetic anti-ferromagnet (SAF) with IL-DMI, after applying demagnetizing field sequences. We add different global magnetic field offsets to the demagnetizing sequence in order to investigate the states that form when the IL-DMI exchange bias field is fully or partially compensated. For magnetic imaging and vector reconstruction of the remanent magnetic states, we utilize x-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy, evidencing the formation of 360° domain wall rings of typically 0.5–3.0 μm in diameter. These spin textures are only observed when the exchange bias field due to the IL-DMI is not perfectly compensated by the magnetic field offset. From a combination of micromagnetic simulations, magnetic charge distribution, and topology arguments, we conclude that a non-zero remanent effective field with components both parallel and perpendicular to the anisotropy axis of the SAF is necessary to observe the rings. This work shows how the exchange bias field due to IL-DMI can lead to complex metastable spin states during reversal, important for the development of future spintronic devices. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/Q-MAD info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101001290/EU/3DNANOMAG-Three-dimensional nanoscale magnetic structures This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 101001290-3DNANOMAG info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN-AEI/PRTR-C17.I1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ 3.5 2023 PHYSICS, APPLIED 59 / 179 = 0.33 2023 Q2 T1 0.976 2023 Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) 2023 Q1 6.4 2023 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Hierro-Rodríguez, A. Ruiz-Gómez, S. Skoric, L. Donnelly, C. Niño, M. A. Vedmedenko, E. Y. McGrouther, D. McVitie, S. Flewett, S. Jaouen, N. Foerster, M. Fernández-Pacheco, A. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-4303-9525 2004 398 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Física Teórica Área Física de la Tierra 123, 17 (2023), 172407 [7 pp.] Appl. phys. lett. Applied Physics Letters 0003-6951 1824741 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/131657/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2572856 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/131657/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:131657 articulos driver 2024-11-22-12:10:48 ARTICLE