Three-dimensional visualization of magnetic domain structure with strong uniaxial anisotropy via scanning hard X-ray microtomography

• Published in: Applied physics express Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 36601 - 36604
• Main Authors: Suzuki, Motohiro, Kim, Kab-Jin, Kim, Sanghoon, Yoshikawa, Hiroki, Tono, Takayuki, Yamada, Kihiro T., Taniguchi, Takuya, Mizuno, Hayato, Oda, Kent, Ishibashi, Mio, Hirata, Yuushou, Li, Tian, Tsukamoto, Arata, Chiba, Daichi, Ono, Teruo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japan Society of Applied Physics 01.03.2018
• ISSN: 1882-0778; 1882-0786; 1882-0786
• DOI: 10.7567/APEX.11.036601

An X-ray tomographic technique was developed to investigate the internal magnetic domain structure in a micrometer-sized ferromagnetic sample. The technique is based on a scanning hard X-ray nanoprobe using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). From transmission XMCD images at the Gd L3 edge as a function of the sample rotation angle, the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of a single component of the magnetic vector in a GdFeCo microdisc was reconstructed with a spatial resolution of 360 nm, using a modified algebraic reconstruction algorithm. The method is applicable to practical magnetic materials and can be extended to 3D visualization of the magnetic domain formation process under external magnetic fields.