Unusual dynamic susceptibility arising from soft ferromagnetic domains in MnBi8Te13 and Sb-doped MnBi2n Te3n+1 (n=2, 3)

MnBi2nTe3n+1 (MBT) is the first intrinsic magnetic topological insulator and is promising to host emergent phenomena such as quantum anomalous Hall effect. They can be made ferromagnetic by having n >= 4 or with Sb doping. We studied the magnetic dynamics in a few selected ferromagnetic (FM) MBT compounds, including MnBi8Te13 and Sb doped MnBi(2)nTe(3n+1) (n = 2, 3) using AC susceptibility and magneto-optical imaging. Slow relaxation behavior is observed in all three compounds, suggesting its universality among FM MBT. We attribute the origin of the relaxation behavior to the irreversible domain movements since they only appear below the saturation fields when ferromagnetic domains form. The very soft ferromagnetic domain nature is revealed by the low-field fine-structured domains and high-field sea-urchin-shaped remanent-state domains imaged via our magneto-optical measurements. Finally, we ascribe the rare 'double-peak' behavior observed in the AC susceptibility under small DC bias fields to the very soft ferromagnetic domain formations.

Automated summary

MBT is the first intrinsic magnetic topological insulator and can be made ferromagnetic through specific methods. We studied the magnetic dynamics of several ferromagnetic MBT compounds and found a universal slow relaxation behavior, attributing it to irreversible domain movements. The soft nature of ferromagnetic domains was revealed by our magneto-optical measurements.