The ability to make controlled patterns of magnetic structures within a nonmagnetic background is essential for several types of existing and proposed technologies. Such patterns provide the foundation of magnetic memory and logic devices, allow the creation of artificial spin-ice lattices and enable the study of magnon propagation. Here, we report a novel approach for magnetic patterning that allows repeated creation and erasure of arbitrary shapes of thin-film ferromagnetic structures. This strategy is enabled by epitaxial Fe0.52Rh0.48 thin films designed so that both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases are bistable at room temperature. Starting with the film in a uniform antiferromagnetic state, we demonstrate the ability to write arbitrary patterns of the ferromagnetic phase by local heating with a focused laser. If desired, the results can then be erased by cooling with a thermoelectric cooler and the material repeatedly re-patterned.
@article{arxiv.1906.07239,
title = {Local Photothermal Control of Phase Transitions for On-demand Room-temperature Rewritable Magnetic Patterning},
author = {Antonio B. Mei and Isaiah Gray and Yongjian Tang and Jurgen Schubert and Don Werder and Jason Bartell and Daniel C. Ralph and Gregory D. Fuchs and Darrell G. Schlom},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.07239},
year = {2020}
}