Three-Dimensional Vortex Gyration Dynamics Unraveled by Time-Resolved Soft X-ray Laminography with Freely Selectable Excitation Frequencies

Nano Lett. 2022 Mar 9;22(5):1971-1977. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04662. Epub 2022 Feb 11.

Abstract

The imaging of magneto-dynamical processes has been, so far, mostly a two-dimensional business, also due to the constraints of the available experimental techniques. In this paper, building on the recent developments of soft X-ray magnetic laminography, we present an experimental setup where magneto-dynamical processes can be resolved in all three spatial dimensions and in time at arbitrary frequencies. We employ this setup to investigate two resonant dynamical modes of a CoFeB microstructure, namely, the fundamental vortex gyration mode and a magnetic field-induced domain wall excitation mode. For the former, we observe a large variation of the gyration dynamics across the thickness of the core, coexisting with a breathing mode of the vortex core. For the latter, we observe a uniform displacement of the domain walls across the thickness of the microstructure. The imaging of these two modes establishes the possibility to freely select the excitation frequency for soft X-ray time-resolved laminography, allowing for the investigation of resonant magneto-dynamical processes.

Keywords: 3D time-resolved magnetic imaging; laminography; magnetic vortex gyration; magnetization dynamics; scanning transmission X-ray microscopy.