Phys.org October 11, 2024
Researchers in Japan visualized antiferromagnetic domains in a representative quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet using nonreciprocal directional dichroism, which differentiated the optical absorption of a pair of antiferromagnetic domains. Opposite antiferromagnetic domains, each about submillimeter in size, were found to coexist in a single-crystal specimen, and the domain walls ran predominantly along the spin chains. They showed that the domain walls could be moved by an applied electric field through a magnetoelectric coupling, and the direction of the domain walls was maintained during the motion. They explained the domain wall anisotropy by the quasi-one-dimensional nature of the exchange interactions. According to the researchers their work contributes to the understanding of the domain physics of quasi-one-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Conceptual illustration of the visualization of the antiferromagnetic… Credit: Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 086701, 22 August 2024