Search

Nano-patterned magnetic materials have opened new venues for the investigation of strongly correlated phenomena including artificial spin-ice systems, geometric frustration, and magnetic monopoles, for technologically important applications such as reconfigurable ferromagnetism. With the advent of atomically thin 2D van der Waals (vdW) magnets, a pertinent question is whether such compounds could make their way into this realm where interactions can be tailored so that unconventional states of matter can be assessed. Here, it is shown that square islands of CrGeTe 3 vdW ferromagnets distributed in a grid manifest antiferromagnetic correlations, essential to enable frustration resulting in an artificial spin-ice. By using a combination of SQUID-on-tip microscopy, focused ion beam lithography, and atomistic spin dynamic simulations, it is shown that a square array of CGT island as small as 150 × 150 × 60 nm 3 have tunable dipole-dipole interactions, which can be precisely controlled by their lateral spacing. There is a crossover between non-interacting islands and significant inter-island anticorrelation depending on how they are spatially distributed allowing the creation of complex magnetic patterns not observable at the isolated flakes. These findings suggest that the cross-talk between the nano-patterned magnets can be explored in the generation of even more complex spin configurations where exotic interactions may be manipulated in an unprecedented way., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Two-dimensional materials are extraordinarily sensitive to external stimuli, making them ideal for studying fundamental properties and for engineering devices with new functionalities. One such stimulus, strain, affects the magnetic properties of the layered magnetic semiconductor CrSBr to such a degree that it can induce a reversible antiferromagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition. Using scanning SQUID-on-lever microscopy, we directly image the effects of spatially inhomogeneous strain on the magnetization of layered CrSBr, as it is polarized by a field applied along its easy axis. The evolution of this magnetization and the formation of domains is reproduced by a micromagnetic model, which incorporates the spatially varying strain and the corresponding changes in the local interlayer exchange stiffness. The observed sensitivity to small strain gradients along with similar images of a nominally unstrained CrSBr sample suggest that unintentional strain inhomogeneity influences the magnetic behavior of exfoliated samples.

The coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism is an intrinsically interesting research focus in condensed matter physics, but the study is limited by low superconducting ( T c ) and magnetic ( T m ) transition temperatures in related materials. Here, we used a scanning superconducting quantum interference device to image the in situ diamagnetic and ferromagnetic responses of RbEuFe 4 As 4 with high T c and T m . We observed significant suppression of the superfluid density in the vicinity of the magnetic phase transition, signifying fluctuation-enhanced magnetic scatterings between Eu spins and Fe 3d conduction electrons. Intriguingly, we observed multiple ferromagnetic domains that should be absent in an ideal magnetic helical phase. The formation of these domains demonstrates a weak c -axis ferromagnetic component probably arising from the Eu spin-canting effect, indicative of possible superconductivity-driven domain Meissner and domain vortex-antivortex phases, as revealed in EuFe 2 (As 0.79 P 0.21 ) 2 . Our observations highlight that RbEuFe 4 As 4 is a unique system that includes multiple interplay channels between superconductivity and ferromagnetism.

In two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnets, anisotropy is essential for the magnetic ordering as dictated by the Mermin-Wagner theorem. But when competing anisotropies are present, the phase transition becomes nontrivial. Here, utilizing highly sensitive susceptometry of scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy, we probe the spin correlations of ABC-stacked CrBr 3 under zero magnetic field. We identify a plateau feature in susceptibility above the critical temperature (T C ) in thick samples. It signifies a crossover regime induced by the competition between easy-plane intralayer exchange anisotropy versus uniaxial interlayer anisotropy. The evolution of the critical behavior from the bulk to 2D shows that the competition between the anisotropies is magnified in the reduced dimension. It leads to a strongly frustrated ferromagnetic transition in the bilayer with fluctuation on the order of T C , which is distinct from both the monolayer and the bulk. Our observation demonstrates unconventional 2D critical behavior on a honeycomb lattice., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The iron-chalcogenide high temperature superconductor Fe(Se,Te) (FST) has been reported to exhibit complex magnetic ordering and nontrivial band topology which may lead to novel superconducting phenomena. However, the recent studies have so far been largely concentrated on its band and spin structures while its mesoscopic electronic and magnetic response, crucial for future device applications, has not been explored experimentally. Here, we used scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy for its sensitivity to both local diamagnetic susceptibility and current distribution in order to image the superfluid density and supercurrent in FST. We found that in FST with 10% interstitial Fe, whose magnetic structure was heavily disrupted, bulk superconductivity was significantly suppressed whereas edge still preserved strong superconducting diamagnetism. The edge dominantly carried supercurrent despite of a very long magnetic penetration depth. The temperature dependences of the superfluid density and supercurrent distribution were distinctively different between the edge and the bulk. Our Heisenberg modeling showed that magnetic dopants stabilize anti-ferromagnetic spin correlation along the edge, which may contribute towards its robust superconductivity. Our observations hold implication for FST as potential platforms for topological quantum computation and superconducting spintronics., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Artificial spin ices are a class of metamaterials consisting of magnetostatically coupled nanomagnets. Their interactions give rise to emergent behavior, which has the potential to be harnessed for the creation of functional materials. Consequently, the ability to map the stray field of such systems can be decisive for gaining an understanding of their properties. Here, we use a scanning nanometer-scale superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) to image the magnetic stray field distribution of an artificial spin ice system exhibiting structural chirality as a function of applied magnetic fields at 4.2 K. The images reveal that the magnetostatic interaction gives rise to a measurable bending of the magnetization at the edges of the nanomagnets. Micromagnetic simulations predict that, owing to the structural chirality of the system, this edge bending is asymmetric in the presence of an external field and gives rise to a preferred direction for the reversal of the magnetization. This effect is not captured by models assuming a uniform magnetization. Our technique thus provides a promising means for understanding the collective response of artificial spin ices and their interactions.

The emergence of states of matter in low-dimensional systems is one of the most intriguing topics in condensed matter physics. Interfaces between nonmagnetic, insulating oxides are found to give rise to surprising behaviors, such as metallic conductivity, superconductivity, and magnetism. Sensitive, noninvasive local characterization tools are essential for understanding the electronic and magnetic behavior of these systems. Here, the scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) technique for local magnetic imaging is described and its contribution to the field of oxide interfaces is reviewed., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Manipulating individual vortices in a deterministic way is challenging; ideally, manipulation should be effective, local, and tunable in strength and location. Here, we show that vortices respond to local mechanical stress applied in the vicinity of the vortex. We utilized this interaction to move individual vortices in thin superconducting films via local mechanical contact without magnetic field or current. We used a scanning superconducting quantum interference device to image vortices and to apply local vertical stress with the tip of our sensor. Vortices were attracted to the contact point, relocated, and were stable at their new location. We show that vortices move only after contact and that more effective manipulation is achieved with stronger force and longer contact time. Mechanical manipulation of vortices provides a local view of the interaction between strain and nanomagnetic objects as well as controllable, effective, and reproducible manipulation technique.