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Field demagnetised artificial square ice magnets: long-range interactions, origin of stochasticity and effective thermodynamics
Brunn, Ondřej ; Lacour, Daniel (oponent) ; Lassailly,, Yves (oponent) ; Kolařík, Vladimír (vedoucí práce)
In the past two decades, artificial spin ice systems have become a powerful experimental platform to investigate cooperative magnetic phenomena often associated with highly frustrated magnets. Compared to their natural counterparts, artificial spin ice systems made of interacting magnetic nanostructures offer several key advantages. Being engineered through nanofabrication processes, an extensive palette of geometries can be designed. In addition, their magnetic configuration can be visualised directly, at the scale of the spin degree of freedom, using magnetic imaging techniques. Local and global quantities can then be measured conveniently, in real space and time, at almost any desired temperature. This PhD work focuses on such artificial spin systems, and more specifically on the square geometry, which was initially proposed as a two-dimensional (2D) counterpart of the three-dimensional (3D) pyrochlore crystal structure. However, this 2D approach removes the magnetic frustration present in 3D, and the system orders in a conventional antiferromagnetic fashion rather than exhibiting a highly degenerate, liquid-like ground state. Following a strategy proposed in the literature, arrays of nanostructures consisting of two vertically offset sub-lattices were fabricated to restore frustration, enabling to reach a spin liquid regime experimentally. Imaging the magnetic configurations obtained after a field demagnetisation protocol, the analysis of the spin-spin correlations reveals deviations from what is predicted by the (short-range) square ice model. Comparing the experimental findings to Monte Carlo simulations, our results indicate that long-range magnetostatic interactions are not washed out in our arrays, contrary to what was initially thought. Then, these artificial square ice structures were used to understand to what extent the field demagnetisation protocol we apply is a stochastic process. To do so, we studied the magnetic configurations obtained after successive field protocols. Our results show that each captured magnetic micro-state differs substantially from the previous one, but not entirely. Analysing the corresponding spin and vertex configurations, we demonstrate that our field protocol is a stochastic process, although we also observe unambiguous signatures of magnetic determinism that we attribute to the presence of quenched disorder. The possible sources of randomness in our experiment are discussed. Finally, we explore the behaviour of a series of field-demagnetised conventional (non-offset) square arrays, in which the lattice parameter is gradually varied to tune the interaction strengths. Comparing the experimental vertex populations and spin-spin correlations to Monte Carlo predictions, we show that the lattice series is well approximated by a unique short-range spin Hamiltonian probed at different effective temperatures. In other words, the lattice parameter can serve as a knob to probe the thermodynamics of a given spin model.
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Magnetic arctic circle physics in an artificial square ice magnet
Ondříšková, Martina ; Lacour, Daniel (oponent) ; Rougemaille, Nicolas (vedoucí práce)
Under specific boundary conditions, the square ice model exhibits phase separation, with a disordered core and an ordered outer region, known as the ’arctic circle’ phenomenon. Inspired by recent experimental realizations using programmable lattices, we aim to observe and investigate these properties in a square lattice of interacting nanomagnets, achieving the domain wall boundary conditions (DWBC) necessary for the arctic circle and exploring their overall impact on the system. In this work, we will use magnetic force microscopy on lithographically fabricated arrays to directly observe the topological nature of the Coulomb phase and the monopole segregation mechanism. Employing an innovative approach, we will engineer the boundary conditions of the lattice through specific wiring of the nanomagnets at the edges. Our work will not only focus on the spin liquid nature of the disordered region within the arctic curve and monopole segregation by magnetic charge and moment but also on the propagation of constraints from the DWBC and their overall impact on the system.
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Magnetic spin ice states in artificial magnetic frustrated systems
Schánilec, Vojtěch ; Hrabec, Aleš (oponent) ; Rougemaille, Nicolas (vedoucí práce)
Artificial spin-ice systems are an appropriate tool for exploring unusual phenomena that are hard to observe in nature. A special case of artificial spin ice system is a kagome lattice that allows you to examine the collective behaviour of spin in the matter. This system has a number of predicted exotic magnetic phases that have not yet been measured and investigated in real space. In this work, we deal with the modification of the kagome lattice so that it can be used to study exotic states in real space. Experiments performed on our modified lattice indicate that we are able to detect both low and high energy states, and therefore the proposed modification of the kagome lattice is suitable for exploring its exotic states in real space.
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Magnetic phases in an artificial realization of the square ice model
Brunn, Ondřej ; Hrabec, Aleš (oponent) ; Rougemaille, Nicolas (vedoucí práce)
Artificial spin systems are convenient tool for exploring and manipulating unconventional exotic low-energy states directly in real space. Experimental realization of these system is made by pattering arrays of interacting nanomagnets with given geometry. First and also probably the most extensively studied artificial system have regular square lattice. In this work we deal with the modification of the square geometry that enable us to induce distinct magnetic phases of ice-type models. Results show that with appropriate tuning of the modification, several magnetic phases can be reached, including the disordered spin-liquid phase with trapped magnetic quasi-particles (magnetic monopoles).
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Magnetic phases in an artificial realization of the square ice model
Brunn, Ondřej ; Hrabec, Aleš (oponent) ; Rougemaille, Nicolas (vedoucí práce)
Artificial spin systems are convenient tool for exploring and manipulating unconventional exotic low-energy states directly in real space. Experimental realization of these system is made by pattering arrays of interacting nanomagnets with given geometry. First and also probably the most extensively studied artificial system have regular square lattice. In this work we deal with the modification of the square geometry that enable us to induce distinct magnetic phases of ice-type models. Results show that with appropriate tuning of the modification, several magnetic phases can be reached, including the disordered spin-liquid phase with trapped magnetic quasi-particles (magnetic monopoles).
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Magnetic spin ice states in artificial magnetic frustrated systems
Schánilec, Vojtěch ; Hrabec, Aleš (oponent) ; Rougemaille, Nicolas (vedoucí práce)
Artificial spin-ice systems are an appropriate tool for exploring unusual phenomena that are hard to observe in nature. A special case of artificial spin ice system is a kagome lattice that allows you to examine the collective behaviour of spin in the matter. This system has a number of predicted exotic magnetic phases that have not yet been measured and investigated in real space. In this work, we deal with the modification of the kagome lattice so that it can be used to study exotic states in real space. Experiments performed on our modified lattice indicate that we are able to detect both low and high energy states, and therefore the proposed modification of the kagome lattice is suitable for exploring its exotic states in real space.
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