Stress-induced Neel vector reorientation in gamma-FeMn antiferromagnetic thin films

The relationship between stresses and the orientation of the Neel vector were studied by varying the residual stresses in magnetron sputtered FeMn thin films by adjusting Argon working pressures. Quasistatic magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements reveal that the FeMn film with compressive stress (-27 MPa/-0.015% strain) possesses an out-of-plane Neel vector orientation with a 44 kOe spin-flop field, as contrasted to the FeMn film with tensile stress (25 MPa/0.014% strain) showing an in-plane orientation with a 34 kOe spin-flop field. An energy formulation for the films estimates a magnetostriction value of 109 ppm following an effective anisotropy of -8 kJ/m(3). The film with the larger residual stress (77 MPa/0.043% strain) displayed a strain-induced phase transition from gamma-FeMn to alpha-FeMn. These results show the dependency of the Neel vector on the stress state indicative of relatively large magnetostriction.& nbsp;& nbsp;Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.