Magnetic soft X-ray tomography of topological spin textures in thin films deposited on indented curved surfaces

We have started very preliminary measurements with this new 3D magnetic sample platform during our last beamtime at MISTRAL, but did not have sufficient time to obtain a complete dataset. Our scientific goal with this proposal is to elucidate the role of curvature in the formation of 3D spin textures. We aim to understand fundamental relationships between topological properties and geometry, notably chirality and curvature that could spur future spintronics applications with such tailored 3D magnetic nanostructures. The development of the versatile platform requires advances in nanolithography and we have made significant progress to be now in a position to deposit various magnetic heterostructured thin films onto those substrates
In this proposal we leverage the unique imaging capabilities of MISTRAL that allows for tomographic reconstructions of spin configurations in 3D magnetic systems with high spatial and spectral resolution, and importantly, high magnetic sensitivity due to the recently implemented X-ray polarization modulation scheme at ALBA, which makes MISTRAL the ideal instrument for our proposed studies.
The proposed work is part of our endeavor to discover, characterize, and understand the static and dynamic behavior of non-equilibrium magnetic materials, including topologically protected spin textures in chiral materials, e.g., magnetic skyrmions or 3D Hopfions. We aim to study topological spin textures in extended layers where the local curvature in regular arrays of indentations with varying radii and depth leads to interconnected and complex networks of spin textures. Our studies will impact multiple directions in the emerging field of 3d nanomagnetism, e.g. 3d magnonics.