Abstract
The antiferromagnetic domain structure in LaFeO thin-film epilayers grown on LaSrMnO is imaged combining linearly polarized x-ray-absorption spectroscopy with photoemission electron microscopy. Detailed analysis of polarization-dependent domain contrast from magnetic dichroism reveals two sets of symmetrically different antiferromagnetic easy axes in the LaFeO layer along the in-plane and crystalline axes (pseudocubic notation), respectively. We show that extended antiferromagnetic domains can be stabilized selectively for nanowires defined in this perovskite thin-film system along either orientation of the easy axes. The results demonstrate how the equilibrium domain structure of thin-film nanoscale antiferromagnets depend on a combination of substrate symmetry, nanowire dimensions, and in-plane crystalline orientation.
- Received 18 September 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.220410
©2011 American Physical Society