Synchrotron radiation topographic study of the thick ferromagnetic–fan interface in MnP

Abstract

The coexistence of the ferromagnetic and fan phases in a (001) MnP crystal, under a magnetic field applied along the b direction, is investigated in real time, by synchrotron radiation diffraction topography, at T ≈ 48 K. The ferromagnetic–fan interface includes bulk transition regions, elongated along a, and thick enough along the b direction (in the 10−4 m range) to produce a substantial contribution to diffraction. The Bragg condition changes continuously across these regions. This configuration, which involves magnetic charge distribution, is in sharp distinction with the usual two-dimensional character of magnetic walls and phase boundaries. The thick interface is likely to comprise a set of intermediate magnetic states.

Advances in synchrotron hard X-ray based imaging

“…The evolution of this ROI (image and/or local diffracted intensity) can give clues to understand the physical processes that occur in the crystal. An example of this approach is constituted by the identification of a broad interface between magnetic phases in MnP: the behaviour of this broad interface suggests that it is composed by a series of intermediate magnetic arrangements, that only exist during the phase coexistence, and which go from the ferromagnetic to the fan magnetic phases [75].…”