Broadband Spectroscopy of Thermodynamic Magnetization Fluctuations through a Ferromagnetic Spin-Reorientation Transition

Abstract

We use scanning optical magnetometry to study the broadband frequency spectra of spontaneous magnetization fluctuations, or “magnetization noise,” in an archetypal ferromagnetic film that can be smoothly tuned through a spin-reorientation transition (SRT). The SRT is achieved by laterally varying the magnetic anisotropy across an ultrathin Pt/Co/Pt trilayer, from the perpendicular to in-plane direction, via graded Ar^{+} irradiation. In regions exhibiting perpendicular anisotropy, the power spectrum of the magnetization noise S(ν) exhibits a remarkably robust ν^{-3/2} power law over frequencies ν from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. As the SRT region is traversed, however, S(ν) spectra develop a steadily increasing critical frequency ν_{0}, below which the noise power is spectrally flat, indicating an evolving low-frequency cutoff for magnetization fluctuations. The magnetization noise depends strongly on applied in- and out-of-plane magnetic fields, revealing local anisotropies and also a field-induced emergence of fluctuations in otherwise stable ferromagnetic films. Finally, we demonstrate that higher-order correlators can be computed from the noise. These results highlight broadband spectroscopy of thermodynamic fluctuations as a powerful tool to characterize the interplay between thermal and magnetic energy scales, and as a means of characterizing phase transitions in ferromagnets.