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. 2024 Feb 19;23(5):619–626. doi: 10.1038/s41563-024-01806-2

Fig. 5. In situ strain tuning of AFM states and non-thermal generation of topological textures.

Fig. 5

a, Schematic of the α-Fe2O3 membrane strained in a controlled manner where the underlying flexible Si3N4 support was square in shape. The surrounding membrane lying on top of the rigid silicon frame remained flat. The deflection corresponds to the maximum vertical displacement of the centre of the membrane. Dimensions are not to scale. b, Pressure-dependent calibration of the deflection (left axis) and estimated IP tensile strain (right axis) performed across a range of temperatures. The dashed black curve corresponds to a square-root fit of deflection versus pressure, which is consistent with the trends reported in the literature34. c, Strain-dependent evolution of the AFM STXM contrast obtained at the Fe L3-edge whilst pressurizing the buffered membrane (type C) at room temperature (T < TM). The OOP and IP contrasts are indicated as purple and yellow/orange, respectively, as that in Fig. 2. Scale bars, 1 µm. All the images were recorded at the same position. The energy-contrast scale was slightly varied across the transition to aid visualization. d, Néel vector map performed at 0.39% strain in the same position as that in c. R–G–B colours (key inset in d) and thin white bars represent the IP AFM orientations. The yellow circles and squares indicate AFM merons and antimerons, respectively.