Abstract (eng)
Spin Ice systems are frustrated magnetic systems, where the geometrical frustration gives rise to degeneracy of the ground-state, and enables excited states, where magnetic charges can be quantified. The cryogenic temperatures, and atomic sizes make it difficult to control these magnetic charges, also commonly referred to as "emergent magnetic monopoles". Artificial spin ice systems are magnetic meta-materials fabricated to study the magnetic charges on more accessible platforms. Magnetic moments of single atoms from spin ice materials, are replaced by the elongated magnetic islands, always magnetized along their longer axis due to the shape anisotropy. Commonly arranged on square, or hexagonal lattices, each nanoisland can reverse its magnetization state, if enough energy is introduced in the system. If the energy supplied is larger than the required switching barrier, the magnetization of one ASI element can be reversed. In this cumulative Master thesis the switching mechanisms behind the reversals of single magnetic elements in ASI are investigated. In the first published article, different methods for the calculation of the energy barriers in a square ASI are compared, and a full micromagnetic model using the string method was developed. It is shown, that proper micromagnetic modelling can lower the mean-field barriers by 35%. Furthermore, it was shown, hat the reversal process can occur via clockwise or counterclockwise rotation, leading to a redefinition of switching rates, where both barriers are encountered. In a second publication, the developed full micromagnetic model was applied to explain the experimental findings, where the ASI lattice grown on top of a heavy metal layer (Pt), becomes thermally super-active, as the asymmetric interaction causes by the HM layer lowers the energy barriers, introducing an effective hard-axis anisotropy. A more comprehensive study on the reversal mechanisms, temporal and spatial correlation of the switching processes in ASI were investigated in a third publication. Here, it was shown that the switching mechanisms can be magneto-statically or exchange dominated, based on the shape of the magnetic nano-islands. In the final publication included in this Master thesis, a novel three dimensional ASI was designed, which solves all the shortcomings of the conventional ASI. Here, the switching mechanisms and barriers are investigated to prove that the tension of Dirac strings vanishes, and that the magnetic charges present in the lattice become effectively unbound, leading to uncorrelated, highly mobile, binary information carriers.