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    Flexomagnetism and vertically graded Néel temperature of antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 thin films
    ([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2022) Makushko, Pavlo; Kosub, Tobias; Pylypovskyi, Oleksandr V.; Hedrich, Natascha; Li, Jiang; Pashkin, Alexej; Avdoshenko, Stanislav; Hübner, René; Ganss, Fabian; Wolf, Daniel; Lubk, Axel; Liedke, Maciej Oskar; Butterling, Maik; Wagner, Andreas; Wagner, Kai; Shields, Brendan J.; Lehmann, Paul; Veremchuk, Igor; Fassbender, Jürgen; Maletinsky, Patrick; Makarov, Denys
    Antiferromagnetic insulators are a prospective materials platform for magnonics, spin superfluidity, THz spintronics, and non-volatile data storage. A magnetomechanical coupling in antiferromagnets offers vast advantages in the control and manipulation of the primary order parameter yet remains largely unexplored. Here, we discover a new member in the family of flexoeffects in thin films of Cr2O3. We demonstrate that a gradient of mechanical strain can impact the magnetic phase transition resulting in the distribution of the Néel temperature along the thickness of a 50-nm-thick film. The inhomogeneous reduction of the antiferromagnetic order parameter induces a flexomagnetic coefficient of about 15 μB nm−2. The antiferromagnetic ordering in the inhomogeneously strained films can persist up to 100 °C, rendering Cr2O3 relevant for industrial electronics applications. Strain gradient in Cr2O3 thin films enables fundamental research on magnetomechanics and thermodynamics of antiferromagnetic solitons, spin waves and artificial spin ice systems in magnetic materials with continuously graded parameters.
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    Freestanding few-layer sheets of a dual topological insulator
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Anh, Mai Lê; Potapov, Pavel; Lubk, Axel; Doert, Thomas; Ruck, Michael
    The emergence of topological insulators (TIs) raised high expectations for their application in quantum computers and spintronics. Being bulk semiconductors, their nontrivial topology at the electronic bandgap enables dissipation-free charge and spin transport in protected metallic surface states. For application, crystalline thin films are requested in sufficient quantity. A suitable approach is the liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of TI crystals that have layered structures. Bi2TeI is a weak 3D TI, which leads to protected edge states at the side facets of a crystal, as well as a topological crystalline insulator, which is responsible for protected states at the top and bottom faces. We developed an effective, scalable protocol for LPE of freestanding nanoflakes from Bi2TeI crystals. By heat treatment and sonication in isopropyl alcohol and poly(vinylpyrrolidone), crystalline Bi2TeI sheets with a thickness of ~50 nm were obtained and can therefore be considered for further processing toward microelectronic applications.