Revealing 3D magnetization of thin films with soft X-ray tomography: magnetic singularities and topological charges
A. Hierro‐Rodríguez, C. Quirós, Andrea Sorrentino, L. M. Álvarez-Prado, J. I. Martı́n, J. M. Alameda, S. McVitie, Eva Pereiro, M. Vélez, S. Ferrer
Abstract
The knowledge of how magnetization looks inside a ferromagnet is often hindered by the limitations of the available experimental methods which are sensitive only to the surface regions or limited in spatial resolution. Here we report a vector tomographic reconstruction based on soft X-ray transmission microscopy and magnetic dichroism data, which has allowed visualizing the three-dimensional magnetization in a ferromagnetic thin film heterostructure. Different non-trivial topological textures have been resolved and the determination of their topological charge has allowed us to identify a Bloch point and a meron-like texture. Our method relies only on experimental data and might be of wide application and interest in 3D nanomagnetism.