Correlation of antiferromagnetic domain structure and spin flop behaviour in CuMnAs thin films

An antiferromagnet is a class of material that has a magnetic structure, but does not produce a magnetic field. By combining antiferromagnetic order with a particular crystal symmetry, it has recently been shown that information can be written using electrical currents in thin films of the antiferromagnetic crystal CuMnAs. The fast dynamics of electron spins in this process holds considerable promise for the development of new high-speed electronic devices. Here we propose to study the behaviour of antiferromagnetic spins in a CuMnAs thin film in a magnetic field using neutron diffraction. This will provide a direct measurement of the spin rotation process which, together with pre-characterization of the electron transport properties and microscopic domain imaging, will shed new light on the role of domain walls and topological spin structures during spin reorientation.