Time-resolved imaging of domain pattern destruction and recovery via nonequilibrium magnetization states

Abstract

The authors have built an X-ray microscope capable of taking snapshots of the domain formation process with a high spatial resolution down to a few ten nanometers. By exposing the sample to intense magnetic field pulses, they destroy the stable domain pattern and probe the rapid time-evolution of the sample magnetization stroboscopically with soft X-ray flashes created by the storage ring PETRA III at DESY in Hamburg. These flashes enable resolving very fast changes in the domain configuration occurring at a few hundred picoseconds and thus a video of the domain destruction and relaxation dynamics can be recorded in slow motion. Visualizing the process of domain formation and reorganization in real time helps developing future magnetic storage devices where digital information is contained in the alignment of nanometer sized domains.