Artificial magnetic structures with periodic magnetic ordering – artificial magnetic crystals – are potential media for magnetic waves. Creating order in artificial 2D magnetic structures is problematic due to the large energy barriers between many metastable states. We have studied the reduction of these energy barriers by applying an out-of-plane magnetic field. The out-of-plane field partially rotates the magnetic moments in the direction of the external field, thereby reducing the dipole-dipole interactions in the structure. Surprisingly, the energy landscape of the system not only renormalizes but also undergoes non-trivial changes in its properties within the symmetry-breaking scenario. The external out-of-plane magnetic field suppresses the stability of high-energy metastable states, allowing for more efficient ordering of the magnetic structures.
Tóbik, J., Bokes, P., Lepadatu, S., Vetrova, J., Ščepka, T., and Šoltýs, J.
Toroidal ordering of artificial magnetic systems by spontaneous symmetry breaking, Phys. Rev. B 112 (2025) 134429.
