Magnetic order in nanogranular iron germanium (Fe<sub>0.53</sub>Ge<sub>0.47</sub>) films
We study the effect of strain on the magnetic properties and magnetization configurations in nanogranular Fe<sub><i>x</i></sub>Ge1-xfilms (x=0.53±0.05) with and without B20 FeGe nanocrystals surrounded by an amorphous structure. Relaxed films on amorphous silicon nitride membranes reveal a disordered skyrmion phase while films near and on top of a rigid substrate favor ferromagnetism and an anisotropic hybridization of Fe<i>d</i>levels and spin-polarized Ge<i>sp</i>band states. The weakly coupled topological states emerge at room temperature and become more abundant at cryogenic temperatures without showing indications of pinning at defects or confinement to individual grains. These results demonstrate the possibility to control magnetic exchange and topological magnetism by strain and inform magnetoelasticity-mediated voltage control of topological phases in amorphous quantum materials.
Authors
- Christoph Klewe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5816-5647)
- Robert Streubel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4783-892X)
- C. Mazzoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9774-1507)
- Bryce Herrington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1481-0464)
- Paul D. Ashby (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4195-310X)
- Wai Kiat Chin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1840-0825)
- Ather Mahmood
- Ruthi Zielinski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3719-0699)
- Jim Ciston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8774-5747)
- Padraic Shafer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9363-2557)
- Xiaoqian Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4525-0057)
- N. V. Nguyen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1095-1585)
- Amir Tarkian
- Omar Ahmed Hassan Ahmed Taha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6274-0596)
Institutions
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Physics Condensed Matter
- Published
- 2024-10-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648x/ad8c0a
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.34
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Office of Science
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Office of Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research