Resonance properties of domain walls in ferromagnets with a weak

exchange interaction
M. V. Gvozdikova
Kharkov State University, 310077 Kharkov, Ukraine
A. S. Kovalev
B. Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering,
National Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine, 310164 Kharkov, Ukraine*
Yuri S. Kivshar
Optical Sciences Center, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering,
Australian National University, ACT 0200, Canberra, Australia**
Submitted February 13, 1998; revised March 16, 1998
Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 24, 635640 July 1998
The spin dynamics of a domain wall is studied in an innite ferromagnetic chain with an easy-
axis anisotropy as well as in a chain of nite size. The dependence of the intrinsic mode
frequency of the domain wall on the exchange interaction is studied for all admissible values of
the latter. It is shown that this dependence is considerably modied in the region of
transition of the domain wall from collinear structure to canted form. 1998 American
Institute of Physics. S1063-777X9800507-6
In this communication, we report on the investigation of
nonlinear dynamics of spin systems. Magnetic solitons were
rst studied in Kharkov more than 25 years ago, and Prof.
A. M. Kosevich was one of the pioneers in this eld. The
authors are indebted to him for introducing them to this in-
teresting eld of physical research at different times.
Nonlinear excitations of magnetically ordered media
domain walls, magnetic solitons have been studied exten-
sively for traditional magnets both from theoretical and ex-
perimental points of view.
1,2
As a rule, the theoretical studies
of these objects are carried out by using differential equa-
tions in the longwave approximation. However, it has been
reported in a number of recent publications
35
that magnets
with a weak exchange interaction in which the exchange
integral J becomes of the order of, or smaller than, the
single-ion anisotropy constant undergo qualitative varia-
tions in structure and domain wall dynamics, and the results
obtained from a longwave description of such systems be-
come inapplicable.
This problem has attained signicance in recent years
following the synthesis of new magnetic materials which sat-
isfy the condition J. Examples of such materials are the
quasi-one-dimensional magnets CH
3

3
NHNiCl
3
2H
2
O,
C
9
H
7
NHNiCl
3
1,5H
2
O,
6
and layered antiferromagnets
with a ratio J/10
2
, e.g., (CH
2
)
n
(NH
3

2
MnCl
4
,
(C
n
H
2n1
NH
3
)
2
MnCl
4
,
711
and most of the high-temperature
superconductors and their isostructural analogs. Signi-
cantly, it is possible to change in the above layered antifer-
romagnets the number n of organic molecules intercalating
the magnetic layers, thus opening the possibility of experi-
mental investigation of the dependence of the structure and
dynamic properties of such magnets on the value of the ex-
change integral J.
Van den Broek and Zijlstra
3
were the rst to show that
for comparable values of the exchange interaction constant
and the anisotropy constant, a domain wall collapses into
a collinear structure of the size of atomic spacing with par-
allel and antiparallel spin orientations. Stepanov and
Yablonskii
12
studied experimentally the resonance properties
of layered antiferromagnets and observed an additional ab-
sorption band in the magnon spectral gap. The authors attrib-
uted this band to the emergence of an intrinsic mode in do-
main walls. Since such modes do not exist in the longwave
description of a magnet, their emergence is associated with
the discreetness of the magnetic medium and the transforma-
tion of domain walls to collinear form. Goncharuk et al.
4
actually established theoretically the existence of an intrinsic
mode in a domain wall for values of the exchange integral J
below the critical value corresponding to collapse of the
wall.
In the present work, we demonstrate the existence of an
intrinsic mode in a noncollinear domain wall for exchange
interaction exceeding the critical value, and describe the
variation of this mode in the vicinity of the critical value of
J. This question is of importance not only for the investiga-
tion of magnetically ordered media, but also for the general
development of nonlinear physics where the interest has
been shifting in recent years towards essentially discrete sys-
tems.
The magnetization dynamics is studied in the framework
of Heisenbergs classical one-dimensional discrete model for
an easy-axis ferromagnet, i.e., by using the LandauLifshitz
discrete equation without damping. The total energy of a
spin chain can be represented in the form
LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS VOLUME 24, NUMBER 7 JULY 1998
479 1063-777X/98/24(7)/5/$15.00 1998 American Institute of Physics
E

J
a
2
S
n
S
n1

2
S
n
e
z

, 1
where S
n
is the spin of a lattice site (S
n

2
1), J is the
exchange interaction constant (J0 for a ferromagnet, and
the single-ion anisotropy constant (0 for an easy-axis
ferromagnet with the easy axis along the e
z
-axis. In this case,
the LandauLifshitz equation can be written in the form
2
1

0
dS
n
dt

l
0
a

2
S
n
, S
n1
S
n1
S
n
e
z
S
n
e
z
0,
2
where
0
2
0
S
0
/ is the frequency of a uniform ferro-
magnetic resonance (
0
is the Bohr magneton, S
0
the nomi-
nal magnetization, and l
0
J/ the characteristic scale of
spatial inhomogeneity of magnetization in a domain wall
magnetic length. It is convenient to go over to the com-
plex quantity
n
S
n
x
iS
n
y
the classical analog of the mag-
non creation operator and spin projection onto the z-axis
(S
n
z
m
n
). In this case, if we measure time in units of
0
1
and introduce the parameter (l
0
/a)
2
, we can write
Eq. 2 in the form
i
d
n
dt

n
m
n1

n1
m
n

n
m
n1

n1
m
n

n
m
n
0. 3
It was shown in Refs. 3 and 4 that this equation has a
static solution for a collinear domain wall with the following
spin orientation:
m
n
1 n0, m
n
1 n0 4
the domain wall is located between spins with numbers 0
and 1 for values of the parameter smaller than the critical
value
*
3/4. Substituting into Eq. 3 the solution 4 and
the function
n
in the form
n

n
exp(it), we can easily
obtain the intrinsic mode
4
of the domain wall for
*
:

1
6
64
2
48
2
. 5
Curve 1 in Fig. 1 shows the dependence . For

*
, we obtain 1/2, while (8/39)(
*
)
1/2
near the critical point.
Let us consider the possibility of the existence of an
intrinsic mode in a domain wall for exchange interactions
exceeding the critical value (
*
). In this range of values
of , the collinear structure corresponding to the solution 4
becomes unstable and the spin distribution in the domain
wall becomes noncollinear (m
n
1). Using the smallness
of the parameter (
*
), we can nd this distribution in
the vicinity of the critical value
*
. For a noncollinear
structure, it is convenient to represent Eq. 3 in terms of the
components S
n
i
:
dS
n
x
dt
S
n
y
m
n1
z
m
n
z
S
n1
y
S
n
y
m
n1
z
m
n
z
S
n1
y
S
n
y
m
n
z
0,
6
dS
n
y
dt
m
n
z
S
n1
x
S
n
x
m
n1
z
m
n
z
S
n1
x
S
n
x
m
n1
z
S
n
x
m
n
z
0,
7
where m
n
z
1(S
n
x
)
2
(S
n
y
)
2

1/2
.
To begin with, let us determine the static conguration
of the domain wall by putting S
n
y
0 for the sake of denite-
ness. It follows from symmetry consideration that m
n
z

m
1n
z
and S
n
x
S
1n
x
(n0). In the main linear approxi-
mation, the system of equations 6 and 7 can be reduced to
the system
1S
1
x
S
2
x
0, n1,
21S
n
x
S
n1
x
S
n1
x
0, n1, 8
whose solution has the simple form
S
n
x

A
3
n1
,
3
4
, n1, 9
where the constant A is determined from the next approxi-
mation in perturbation theory. We introduce the small pa-
rameter of expansion

*
10
and present the approximate solution in the form
S
n
x

A
3
n1
Z
n
, 11
where A and Z
n

3/2
A. Retaining terms of the order
of
3/2
in the static equations 6 and 7, we obtain the
following system of difference equations:

4
3
A
1
4
Z
1

3
4
Z
1

1
3
A
3
0, n1,

4
9
A
5
2
Z
2

3
4
Z
1
Z
3

8
81
A
3
0, n2, 12
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4
3
n
A
5
2
Z
n

3
4
Z
n1
Z
n1

8
3
2n2
A
3
0.
It can be shown easily that the solution of this system
can be chosen in the form Z
1
Z
2
0, Z
n
(n3)0. This
corresponds to the following expression for the constant A:
A2 13
FIG. 1. Dependence of the intrinsic mode frequency of a domain wall on
the discreetness parameter J/(a
2
) of an innite ferromagnetic chain
for collinear curve 1 and canted curve 2 forms of the DW.
480 Low Temp. Phys. 24 (7), July 1998 Gvozdikova et al.
a different choice of the sequence Z
n
leads only to an addi-
tional expansion of the approximate solution with a different
value of the small parameter of the expansion. The rst
terms in the sequence Z
n
and the asymptotic form for large
values of n are given by
Z
1
Z
2
0, Z
3

32
3
5

3/2
0.126
3/2
,
Z
4

1432
3
7

3/2
0.644
3/2
, . . . 14
. . . Z
n

2n
3
n

3/2
, n1.
Thus, in the main approximation in the small parameter ,
the solution for the static conguration of a domain wall has
the form
S
n
y 0
0, S
n
x 0
S
1n
x 0

2
3
n1
, n1. 15
It can be easily veried that this solution satises the
system of static equations in which the nonlinear terms cu-
bic in S
1
x
, S
0
x
, S
2
x
, S
1
x
are considered only in two equations
for spins in the vicinity of the center of the domain wall,
while all the remaining equations are linearized in spin de-
viations S
n
x
:

1
4

S
1
x

3
4

S
2
x

1
4
S
1
x

3
8
S
1
x

2
S
2
x

3
8
S
1
x
S
2
x

2
0, n1, 16
5
2
S
n
x

3
4
S
n1
x
S
n1
x
0, n1.
Solving the dynamic problem in the same approximation
and with the same accuracy, we retain nonlinear terms only
with numbers n0,1 in the dynamic equations 6 and 7,
and linearize them subsequently in small corrections to the
static solution 15:
S
n
x
S
n
x 0
&W
n
t , S
n
y
&V
n
t , 17
where W
n
, V
n
S
n
x(0)
.
Substituting a solution in the form
V
n
v
n
cos t, W
n
w
n
sin t 18
into the obtained system of equations, we arrive at the nal
form of the system of linear differential equations for v
n
and w
n
:
5
2
w
n

3
4
w
n1
w
n1
v
n
0, 19
5
2
v
n

3
4
v
n1
v
n1
w
n
0 20
and

1
2
3

w
1

3
4

1
14
3

w
0

3
4

1
2
3

w
2
v
1
0,

1
2
3

w
0

3
4

1
14
3

w
1

3
4

1
2
3

w
1
v
0
0, 21

1
2
3

v
1

3
4

1
2
3

v
0

3
4

1
2
3

v
2
w
1
0,

1
2
3

v
0

3
4

1
2
3

v
1

3
4

1
2
3

v
1
w
0
0,
where the signs plus and minus in Eqs. 19 and 20
correspond to numbers n1 and n0, respectively, and
Eqs. 21 describe the dynamics of spins with numbers n
1 and 0 adjoining the center of the domain wall. The in-
trinsic mode of the domain wall localized near its center
corresponds to the following solutions of Eqs. 1921:
w
n
A exp
1
n1B exp
2
n1, n1,
v
n
A exp
1
n1B exp
2
n1, n1,
22
w
n
C exp
1
nD exp
2
n, n0,
v
n
C exp
1
nD exp
2
n, n0,
where
exp
1,2

1
3

524

1
5
4

2
4

1/2

. 23
Substituting the solutions 22 and 23 into the system
of equations 21, we arrive at the nal expression for the
dependence of the intrinsic mode frequency on the discrete-
ness parameter of the spin chain. In the main approxima-
tion in the small parameter , this dependence has the form

32
339
*. 24
Segment 2 of the dependence in Fig. 2 shows this
dependence. Segment 3 of the same dependence shows the
asymptotic form of the frequency dependence of the intrinsic
mode obtained numerically by Bogdan et al.
13
for large val-
ues of the parameter .
Thus, we have shown that the domain wall in an easy-
axis ferromagnet has an intrinsic mode over the entire range
of values of the discreteness parameter J/, and the fre-
quency dependence of this mode changes sharply in the vi-
cinity of the critical value of this parameter corresponding to
a transition of the domain wall from collinear to canted
structure.
Unfortunately, the domain wall dynamics in an innite
spin chain with exchange interaction exceeding the critical
481 Low Temp. Phys. 24 (7), July 1998 Gvozdikova et al.
value can be studied only in a narrow range of values of J
near the critical value by making a number of simplifying
assumptions. Hence it should be interesting to study the spin
dynamics of such a system by using a simplied model con-
taining a nite number of spins. Since the width of a domain-
wall for small values of the exchange integral is close to the
atomic spacing and the value of spin deviation decreases
rapidly with increasing distance from its center, the intrinsic
dynamics of the wall is determined actually by a small num-
ber of spins near the center.
Let us consider a chain formed by four spins in the do-
main wall conguration. In other words, we shall assume
that, for small values of the exchange integral, the spin sys-
tem has a collinear structure of the type 4: m
1
m
2
1,
m
0
m
1
1. In the collinear phase, the system of equations
3 can be split into four linear equations for solutions of the
type
n

n
exp(it):
1
1

2

0
0,
1
0

1

1
0,
25
1
2

1
0,
1
1

0
0.
These equations describe the frequency spectrum of the
given system with a nite number of degrees of freedom and
its dependence on the discreteness parameter , as well as
the critical value
*
at which the domain wall goes over
from collinear to canted form. The eigenfrequency spectrum
is symmetric in the sign of and contains four values. The
dependence has the form

2
1
2
65, 26
where the minus sign corresponds to the intrinsic mode of
the domain wall. By putting its frequency equal to zero, we
get the value of the critical parameter
*
1/&0.71 which
is quite close to the corresponding value of the parameter

*
0.75 for an innite chain. Curve 1 in Fig. 2 shows the
dependence 26 for the intrinsic mode. This dependence is
identical to the function 5 for an innite spin chain. The
plus sign in formula 26 corresponds to a nonlocalized mode
with
2
1.6
1
. In the limit of an innite chain, this state
passes into antiphase spin vibrations of the upper boundary
of the spin wave spectrum. Curve 3 in Fig. 2 shows the
dependence for this mode.
In the region
*
, the problem for a four-spin com-
plex is solved exactly in contrast to an innite chain even
for a domain wall of canted form. It can be shown that its
static conguration is described by the following solutions of
the system of equations 6 and 7:
m
1
m
0
11/21z/ 21
2

1/2
,
S
1
x
S
0
x
11/21z/ 21
2

1/2
,
27
m
2
m
1
11/2
1z
1/2
,
S
2
x
S
1
x
1
1z
1/2
,
where
z
4
2
2
2
1 2
2
41
21 4
2
21
. 28
In the above formulas, we must take the upper signs for
the region
*

1
, upper for n2, 1 and lower
signs for n0,1 in the interval
1

2
, and lower
signs for all n in the interval
2

, where
1
0.84 is
the root of the equation z()(21)
2
1, while
2
1.24 is the root of the equation z()10. The points
1
and
2
are not critical points, and all dependences at these
points are smooth. At these points, the rotation angles for
spins with n1 and 2 pass through the value /4. At the
second critical point

11/&, the domain wall

type conguration disappears, and all spins turn in a direc-
tion perpendicular to the easy axis. In this unstable congu-
ration, the intrinsic mode frequency again becomes equal to
zero and the spin complex goes over to the homogeneous
ground state. However, the description of a domain wall in
the framework of a four-spin complex becomes physically
invalid for values of the parameter close to

.
In order to describe the transformation of a spectrum in
the region
*
, we linearize the dynamic equations 6
and 7 in the vicinity of the static conguration 27 for the
system with a nite number of spins under consideration, we
must put in Eqs. 6 and 7 S
n
x
S
n
y
m
n
0 for all n3 and
n2:
S
n
x
S
n
x 0
W
n
t , S
n
y
V
n
t ,
m
n
m
n
0
S
n
x 0
W
n
/m
n
0
, 29
where the quantities m
n
(0)
and S
n
x(0)
are dened by 27 and
W
n
, V
n
m
n
(0)
and S
n
x(0)
. As in the case of an innite chain,
we seek the solution of the linearized equations in the form
W
n
w
n
sin t, V
n
v
n
cos t and obtain a system of eight
linear equations for the quantities w
n
and v
n
. Putting the
determinant of this system equal to zero, we arrive at the
nal equation for determining the dependence of frequencies
for modes in the canted phase of the domain wall.
FIG. 2. Eigenfrequency spectrum of a nite spin chain containing a DW.
482 Low Temp. Phys. 24 (7), July 1998 Gvozdikova et al.
Nontrivial solutions for
2
() with 0 satisfy cubic
equations with a complex dependence of the coefcients on
the parameter . We shall not write this equation here sinceit
is quite cumbersome. However, we calculated the asymptotic
dependences near the critical values
*
and

, and numerically plotted these dependences in the en-

tire admissible range of values of curves 2 and 4 in Fig.
2. The functions have a root dependence near

*
. This is the bifurcation point for the high-frequency
mode whose degeneracy is removed due to violation of sym-
metry in the domain wall. For the intrinsic mode, curve 2
in Fig. 2 is quite close to the corresponding dependence for
an innite chain:
2
3.09(
*
). For an innite chain, it
follows from 24 that
2
2.92(
*
). For not too large
values of , curve 2 in Fig. 2 is also quite close to the cor-
responding dependence 2 in Fig. 1.
Thus, it can be seen that the model of spin chains of
nite length can correctly describe the dynamics of a domain
wall in the region of its transition from collinear to canted
conguration. This is also conrmed by the correctness of all
assumptions and approximations used in the analysis of an
innite spin chain containing a domain wall.
Two of the authors A. S. Kovalev and Yu. S. Kivshar
thank the Australian Ministry of Industry, Science and Tour-
ism for awarding a grant to support this research.
*
E-mail: kovalev@ilt.kharkov.ua
**E-mail: ysk124@rsphysse.anu.edu.au
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483 Low Temp. Phys. 24 (7), July 1998 Gvozdikova et al.