X-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy of focused ion beam-induced magnetic patterns on iron–rhodium surfaces

Iron–rhodium (FeRh) thin films were irradiated with a 30 keV Ga ion beam using a focused ion beam system to produce micrometer scale ferromagnetic square dot arrays. Two-dimensional magnetic square dot arrays with dimensions of 30 × 30, 10 × 10, and 5 × 5 μm were successfully produced on the FeRh surface, which was confirmed by magnetic force microscopy. The results of photoemission electron microscopy combined with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism revealed that the magnetization of the magnetic square dots could be controlled by changing the amount of irradiation. The magnetic domain structure of the magnetic square dots with sides of 5–30 μm was found to be a single domain structure, which was possibly influenced by the interaction between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interfaces