Domain engineering in magnetic thin film systems by light-ion bombardment induced magnetic patterning: fundamentals and applications
Arno Ehresmann
Abstract
Light-ion bombardment-induced magnetic patterning (IBMP) of magnetic thin film systems enables a controlled fabrication of magnetic domains. As an example, Fig. 1 shows the main steps for fabricating designed in-plane magnetic domains in Exchange-Bias thin film systems, where the geometrical shape of domains, the anisotropy in the domains in direction and magnitude, and the saturation magnetization can be controllably set. In the talk, I will discuss some fundamentals of the underlying processes.
The potential of this unique nanotechnology is huge and spreads from sensing applications to unique experimental approaches investigating spin transport and magnonics. Among the possible applications, I will focus on using designed domain patterns in lab-on-chips toward point-of-care or home-care diagnostics. From the domain patterns fabricated by IBMP defined magnetic stray-field landscapes (MFLs) are emerging. These MFLs are necessary ingredients for a controlled transport of magnetic microparticles in liquids, close to a surface with suppressed particle agglomeration [1-4]. A strategy for how the detection of molecular analytes may become feasible with this system just by recording and analysing videos through a microscope will be shown.
References
[1] A. Ehresmann, I. Koch, D. Holzinger, Sensors 15, 28854 (2015)
[2] D. Holzinger, I. Koch, S. Burgard, A. Ehresmann, ACS Nano 9, 7323 (2015)
[3] D. Holzinger, D. Lengemann, F. Göllner, D. Engel, and A. Ehresmann, Appl. Phys. Lett 100, 153504 (2012)
[4] Timo Ueltzhöffer, Robert Streubel, Iris Koch, Dennis Holzinger, Denys Makarov, Oliver G. Schmidt, and Arno Ehresmann, ACS Nano 10, 8491 (2016)