Magnetic charge propagation upon a 3D artificial spin-ice

Abstract

Artificial spin-ice systems (ASI) have been studied for 15 years, allowing detailed studies to examine the frustration, ordering and monopole transport in a variety of two-dimensional geometries [1]. The nanostructuring of magnetic materials in three-dimensions presents a new paradigm in condensed matter physics and allows access to a wide range of new physical phenomena [2]. With respect to ASI systems, there are several reasons why 3D geometries are interesting. This includes the realisation of a degenerate ice-rule, mimicking of bulk spin-ice geometries and studying the influence of surfaces upon ordering. In this talk, I will outline the realisation of a 3D artificial spin-ice system [3] which takes the geometry of a diamond-bond lattice (Fig. 1), capturing the arrangement of spins in bulk pyrochlore systems. By using magnetic force microscopy (Fig. 2), I will show that the vertex states upon the surface can be determined, and the global switching of the lattice can be measured. We find very different magnetic charge dynamics along two principal directions upon the lattice. For a field applied along the surface termination, local energetics force magnetic charges to nucleate over a larger characteristic distance, reducing their magnetic Coulomb interaction and producing lone, uncorrelated monopoles. In contrast, applying a field transverse to the surface termination yields large numbers of highly correlated monopole-antimonopole pairs. A combination of micromagnetic and Monte-Carlo simulations are used to understand the results. These suggest it is the difference in effective chemical potential that yields the striking differences in monopole transport. We anticipate that our study will inspire a new generation in artificial spin-ice research whereby the ground states in complex 3D frustrated lattices are explored.  Fig 1. Atomic force microscopy image of the 3DASI system. Distinct layers within the system are labelled L1 - L3.  Fig 2. Magnetic force microscopy of the 3DASI surface, showing a number of ice-rule and monopole states.