Magnetic octupole domain evolution and domain-wall structure in the noncollinear Weyl antiferromagnet Mn3Ge

Abstract

Antiferromagnets with the intrinsic advantages of terahertz spin dynamics and negligible stray fields have been extensively studied for spintronic applications. In particular, spintronic research on antiferromagnets has expanded its focus from collinear to noncollinear Weyl antiferromagnets and discovered that Mn3X (X = Sn, Ge) produces substantial magneto-electric responses. Therefore, noncollinear antiferromagnets could be an ideal spintronic platform. Exploring the domain-wall features in Mn3X is, on the other hand, essential for spintronic device engineering. Here, we report an in-depth study on magnetic octupole domain evolution and domain-wall structure with a choice of Mn3Ge single crystal. Our magneto-optical imaging and the anomalous Hall measurements elucidate the nontrivial magnetic octupole domain nucleation, domain-wall propagation, and pinning behaviors. Moreover, combining the micromagnetic simulation, we reveal that Bloch- and Néel-like walls coexist in bulk with comparable sizes and energy densities. Our findings promote understanding the magnetic octupole domain-wall physics and designing domain-wall-based spintronic devices.