Artificial magnetic disclination through local stress engineering

Abstract

Magnetic disclination, characterized by the orientation of domain-wall arrangement rotating by π along a closed loop, is a type of topological spin texture. This study demonstrates the creation of artificial magnetic disclination through local stress engineering. By patterning nanotrenches in permalloy/poly(methyl methacrylate) bilayers, the tensile stress is relieved in a directional manner through the formation of boundaries. This orients the domain distributions at the microscale through magnetoelastic coupling. Two-dimensional (2D) closed boundaries induce curved stripe domains, which are ultimately converted into disclinations. The geometric configuration and arrangement of the disclination can be spatially adjusted via 2D boundary designation. The combination of in-situ magnetic force microscopy and hysteresis loop measurements links the microscopic domain configuration to the macroscopic magnetic properties of the system. Simulations reveal that the magnetic disclination is critically dominated by the local stress distribution within the topographic confinement.