Magnetoresistance in Fe 0.8 Ga 0.2 thin films with magnetic stripes: The role of the three-dimensional magnetic structure

DE BIASI, E.; VÁSQUEZ-MANSILLA, M.; EDDRIEF, M.; MILANO, J.; FLEWETT, S.; LOUNIS, L.; BARTUREN, M.; MARANGOLO, M.; PIANCIOLA, B.; HEPBURN, C.; GRANADA, M.; SACCHI, M.

PHYSICAL REVIEW B

American Physical Society

Lugar: Maryland; Año: 2020 vol. 102 p. 54438 - 54438

2469-9950

In this work we show the existence of closure domains in Fe 0.8 Ga 0.2 thin films featuring a stripedmagnetic pattern and study the effect of the magnetic domain arrangement on themagnetotransport properties. By means of x-ray resonant magnetic scattering, we experimentallydemonstrate the presence of such closure domains and also estimate their sizes and relativecontribution to surface magnetization. Magnetotransport experiments show that the behavior of themagnetoresistance depends on the measurement geometry as well as on the temperature. Whenthe electric current flows perpendicular to the stripe direction, the resistivity decreases when amagnetic field is applied along the stripe direction (negative magnetoresistance) in all the studiedtemperature range. Transport calculations in the Ohmic regime indicate that the main source is theanisotropic magnetoresistance. In the case of current flowing parallel to the stripe domains, themagnetoresistance changes sign, being positive at room temperature and negative at 100 K. Anintrinsic magnetoresistant contribution arising from the domain walls appears as the mostplausible explanation for the observed behavior. We have put in evidence the importance of usingx-ray resonant magnetic scattering for the determination of thin-film properties related with themagnetic structure.