title: Effect of lithographically-induced strain relaxation on the magnetic domain configuration in microfabricated epitaxially grown Fe81Ga19.
abstract: We investigate the role of lithographically-induced strain relaxation in a micron-scaled device fabricated from epitaxial thin films of the magnetostrictive alloy Fe81Ga19. The strain relaxation due to lithographic patterning induces a magnetic anisotropy that competes with the magnetocrystalline and shape induced anisotropies to play a crucial role in stabilising a flux-closing domain pattern. We use magnetic imaging, micromagnetic calculations and linear elastic modelling to investigate a region close to the edges of an etched structure. This highly-strained edge region has a significant influence on the magnetic domain configuration due to an induced magnetic anisotropy resulting from the inverse magnetostriction effect. We investigate the competition between the strain-induced and shape-induced anisotropy energies, and the resultant stable domain configurations, as the width of the bar is reduced to the nanoscale range. Understanding this behaviour will be important when designing hybrid magneto-electric spintronic devices based on highly magnetostrictive materials.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Beardsley
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Parkes
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zemen
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.|Diamond Light Source Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bowe
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Edmonds
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reardon
authors.affiliation: Diamond Light Source Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maccherozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK.|London Centre of Nanotechnology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AH, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Isakov
authors.affiliation: London Centre of Nanotechnology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AH, UK.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Warburton
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Campion
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Diamond Light Source Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE UK.|Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Cavill
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Rushforth