• DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/035014
• Corpus ID: 118431392

Domain dynamics and fluctuations in artificial square ice at finite temperatures

@article{Budrikis2011DomainDA,
  title={Domain dynamics and fluctuations in artificial square ice at finite temperatures},
  author={Zoe Budrikis and Karen L. Livesey and Jason P. Morgan and Johan {\AA}kerman and Aaron Stein and Sean Langridge and Christopher H. Marrows and Robert L. Stamps},
  journal={New Journal of Physics},
  year={2011},
  volume={14}
}

• Z. Budrikis, K. Livesey, +5 authors R. Stamps
• Published 16 December 2011
• Physics
• New Journal of Physics

The thermally driven formation and evolution of vertex domains is studied for square artificial spin ice. A self-consistent mean-field theory is used to show how domains of ground state ordering form spontaneously, and how these evolve in the presence of disorder. The role of fluctuations is studied using Monte Carlo simulations and analytical modelling. Domain wall dynamics are shown to be driven by a biasing of random fluctuations towards processes that shrink closed domains, and fluctuations within domains are shown to generate isolated small excitations, which may stabilize as the effective temperature is lowered. Domain dynamics and fluctuations are determined by interaction strengths, which are controlled by inter-element spacing. The role of interaction strength is studied via experiments and Monte Carlo simulations. Our mean-field model is applicable to ferroelectric ‘spin’ ice, and we show that features similar to those of magnetic spin ice can be expected, but with different characteristic temperatures and rates.