Physics faculty member publishes study on mechanical strain effects on magnetism in ferromagnetic materials

Strain Engineering of Magnetic Anisotropy in the Kagome Magnet Fe3Sn2

This study, led by Michails Charilaou, explores howmechanical strain can control magnetism in the ferromagnet Fe₃Sn₂ without using external magnetic fields or electric currents. The researchers used advanced electron microscopy and holography, as well as micromagnetic simulations, which were carried out at UL Lafayette, to show that stretching the material changes its magnetic patterns, switching between different configurations.

At low strain, tiny magnetic whirl structures called dipolar skyrmions merge into stripe-like domains, and at higher strain, a new "bow-tie" domain wall appears. When the strain is removed, the material returns to its original state, demonstrating a fully reversible process. These findings suggest that strain can be used as an energy-efficient way to control localized nanoscopic magnetic fields, which could lead to better memory storage and spintronic devices.  These observations highlight the potential of strain-controlled magnetism in nanomagnetic devices and the importance of localized magnetic textures in the interplay between different energies in magnetic materials. This can in turn advance practical applications in technologies, such as strain-mediated magnetic random-access memory (MRAM), strain-based magnetic sensors, flexible electronics, and magnetostrictive energy harvesters.
You can access the publication here.