Simultaneous control of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and magnetic anisotropy in nanomagnetic trilayers

Abstract

Magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy measurements of magnetic bubble domains demonstrate that Ar+ irradiation around 100 eV can tune the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in Pt/Co/Pt trilayers. Varying the irradiation energy and dose changes the DMI sign and magnitude separately from the magnetic anisotropy, allowing tuning of the DMI while holding the coercive field constant. This simultaneous control emphasizes the different physical origins of these effects. To accurately measure the DMI, we propose and apply a physical model for a poorly understood peak in domain wall velocity at zero in-plane field. The ability to tune the DMI with the spatial resolution of the Ar+ irradiation enables new fundamental investigations and technological applications of chiral nanomagnetics.