Abstract
Using photoemission electron microscopy in combination with X-ray magnetic linear dichroism, we report reconfiguration
upon nanostructuring of the antiferromagnetic domain structure in epitaxial LaFeO3 thin films. Antiferromagnetic (AFM) nanoislands
were synthesized using a dedicated process, devised to define nanostructures with magnetic order embedded in a paramagnetic
matrix. Significant impact on the AFM domain configuration was observed. Extended domains were found to form along edges parallel
to the in-plane 〈100〉 crystalline axes of the cubic substrate, with their AFM spin axis parallel to the edge. No such edge-imposed
domain configuration was found for nanoislands defined with the edges at 45° with the in-plane crystalline axes. Epitaxial constraints
on the film crystalline structure appear to play an important role in the formation of the edge-bound extended AFM domains. The
data indicate a magnetostatic origin of this domain reconfiguration.
