In the present study it was tried to create a diluted magnetic semiconductor on the basis of GaN and TiO2 by means of ion beam implantation. In most cases, by characterization of structural and magnetic properties, it was possible to prove that the ferromagnetic state is related to either spinodal decomposition or secondary phase formation. In case of Fe implanted GaN spinodal decomposition, epitaxially oriented alpha-Fe or epsilon-Fe3N nanocrystals were found to be responsible for the ferromagnetic behavior. In addition, the formation of gamma-Fe clusters was observed. Similarly, in TiO2 the ferromagnetism is related to the formation of epitaxially oriented alpha-Fe clusters. Dependent on the process parameters during annealing experiments several various secondary phases were formed. A critical examination of the references in literature points out the significance of usage of sensitive and complementary probe techniques (like CEMS, SQUID, XRD, EXAFS), in order to be able to discuss the origin of ferromagnetism in the field of diluted magnetic semiconductors in a proper way. / In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde versucht, mittels Ionenimplantation verdünnte magnetische Halbleiter auf der Basis von GaN und TiO2 herzustellen. In den meisten Fällen konnte anhand von Charakterisierungen der strukturellen und magnetischen Eigenschaf- ten nachgewiesen werden, dass der ferromagnetische Zustand auf das Vorliegen von entweder spinodaler Entmischung oder kristalliner Ausscheidungen zurückgeführt werden kann. Im Fall von Fe-implantiertem GaN konnten spinodale Entmischung, epitaktisch ausgerichtete alpha-Fe- oder epsilon-Fe3N-Nanokristallite für den Ferromagnetismus verantwortlich gemacht werden. Daneben wird die Bildung von gamma-Fe beobachtet. Bei TiO2 ist Ferromagnetismus ebenfalls auf die Ausscheidung von epitaktisch orientierten alpha-Fe-Clustern zurückzuführen. In Abhängigkeit von den Prozessparametern bei Temperungsexperimenten bildete sich eine Reihe unterschiedlicher Sekundärphasen. Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit den Literaturangaben zeigt die Wichtigkeit des Einsatzes sensitiver, sich ergänzender Messmethoden (wie CEMS, SQUID, XRD, EXAFS), um die Ursache des Ferromagnetismus auf dem Gebiet der verdünnten magnetischen Halbleitern zu finden.

Defect-induced ferromagnetism is attracting intensive research interest. It not only challenges the traditional opinions about ferromagnetism, but also has some potential applications in spin-electronics. SiC is a new candidate for the investigation of defect-induced ferromagnetism after graphitic materials and oxides due to its high material purity and crystalline quality. In this thesis, we made a comprehensive investigation on the structural and magnetic properties of ion implanted and neutron irradiated SiC sample. In combination with X-ray absorption spectroscopy and first-principles calculations, we try to understand the mechanism in a microscopic picture. For neon or xenon ion implanted SiC, we identify a multi-magnetic-phase nature. The magnetization of SiC can be decomposed into paramagnetic, superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic contributions. The ferromagnetic contribution persists well above room temperature and exhibits a pronounced magnetic anisotropy. We qualitatively explain the magnetic properties as a result of the intrinsic clustering tendency of defects. By combining X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and first-principles calculations, we clarify that p electrons of the nearest-neighbor carbon atoms around divacancies are mainly responsible for the long-range ferromagnetic coupling. Thus, we provide a direct correlation between the collective magnetic phenomena and the specific electrons/orbitals. With the aim to verify if the defect-induced magnetization can be increased by orders of magnitude, i.e., if a sample containing defects through its bulk volume can persist ferromagnetic coupling, we applied neutron irradiation to introduce defects into SiC. Besides a weak ferromagnetic contribution, we observe a strong paramagnetism, scaling up with the neutron fluence. The ferromagnetic contribution induced by neutron irradiation only occurs in a narrow fluence window or after annealing. It seems non-realistic to make the bulk specimens ferromagnetic by introducing defects. Instead, we speculate that defect-induced ferromagnetism rather locally appears in particular regions, like surface/interface/grain boundaries. A comparable investigation on neutron irradiated graphite supports the same conclusion.

The ternary spinel-type compounds CdCr2Se4, CdCr2S4, HgCr2Se4, and CuCr2Se4 with Cr as transition metal form a special group of ferromagnetic semiconductors with Curie temperatures up to 430 K. They have particular perspectives in spintronics due to the coexistence of semiconducting and ferromagnetic properties. In this work the ferromagnetic semiconductors were investigated by the hyperfine interactions of implanted nuclear probes using the PAC (perturbed angular correlations) spectroscopy. In such compounds both magnetic hyperfine fields (Bhf) and electric field gradients (efg) allow a detailed study of the behavior of probes, which can additionally represent essential doping atoms in these substances. Besides the popular 111In(111Cd), also 111mCd, 111Ag(111Cd), 77Br(77Se), 117Cd(117In), 199mHg, and 100Pd(100Rh) probes were used exploiting the unique possibilities at the ISOLDE on-line separator and implanter (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland). The main objective of these investigations was to examine the lattice site occupation and the behavior of the implanted probes. In addition, the experimental hyperfine fields were used as test quantities for modern ab initio calculations of the electronic and spin structure (WIEN97).

Axisymmetric magnetic strings with a fixed sense of rotation and nanometer sizes (chiral magnetic vortices or Skyrmions) have been predicted to exist in a large group of non-centrosymmetric crystals more than two decades ago. Recently these extraordinary magnetic states have been directly observed in thin layers of cubic helimagnet (Fe,Co)Si. In this thesis we apply our earlier theoretical findings and recent results to review main properties of chiral Skyrmions, to elucidate their physical nature, and to analyse these recent experimental results on magnetic-field-driven evolution of Skyrmions and helicoids in chiral helimagnets. Concentrating on the physical side of the problem rather than on mathematical details we give an elementary introduction into the properties of chiral Skyrmions in magnetism.

In this PhD thesis, the physics of vacancies in two-dimensional ordered Heisenberg antiferromagnets is investigated. We use semi-classical methods to study the influence of a single vacancy in long-range ordered states, with a focus on non-collinear order. Here, on a classical level, a magnetic distortion is created as the spins readjust in response to the vacancy. We use the non-collinear $120^\\circ$ state on the frustrated triangular lattice as an example, where we determine the impurity contributions to the magnetization and susceptibility. An important discovery is the vacancy moment not being quantized due to non-universal partial screening. The resulting effective moment $m_0 \\ll S$ can be observed as a fractional prefactor to an impurity-induced Curie response $m_0^2/(3k_BT)$ at finite temperature. This is in sharp contrast to collinearly ordered states. Here the moment is always quantized to the bulk spin value, $m_0=S$. Furthermore, we present a detailed analysis of the vacancy-induced distortion cloud. Due to Goldstone modes, it decays algebraically as $r^{-3}$ with distance $r$ to the vacancy. Using leading-order $1/S$-expansion, we determine the quantum corrections to both size and direction of the distorted magnetic moments. Secondly, we study the same problem in the presence of an external magnetic field $h$, both for the square and triangular lattice. For the triangular lattice we use a biquadratic exchange term $K$ to stabilize a unique ground state from a degenerate manifold. The finite-field vacancy moment $m(h)$ is generated by field-dependent screening clouds, as different non-collinear bulk states evolve with increasing field. These distortion clouds decay exponentially on a magnetic length scale $l_h\\propto 1/h$. Most importantly, we find that the magnetic-field linear-response limit $h \\rightarrow 0^+$ is generically singular for $SU(2)$ ordered local-moment antiferromagnets, as the vacancy moment in zero field differs fundamentally from even an infinitesimal but finite field, $m(h \\rightarrow 0^+)\\neq m_0$. Moreover, a part of the screening cloud itself becomes universally singular. Particularly for spin-flop states, this leads to a semi-classical version of perfect screening. We present general arguments to support these claims, as well as microscopic calculations. Another remarkable result is an impurity-induced quantum phase transition for overcompensated vacancies in the $M=1/3$ plateau phase on the triangular lattice with $K<0$. We close our analysis with a discussion about important limits for finite vacancy concentrations, as well as a possible experimental verification of our predictions.

This thesis presents the NMR measurements on the single crystals LiMnPO4 and Li0.9FeAs. Therefore, the thesis is divided into two separated sections. The first part reports on the competitive next generation cathode material LiMnPO4 with a stable reversible capacity up to 145 mAh/g and a rather flat discharge voltage curve at 4.1 V. For the basic understanding of the material the magnetic properties have been investigated by a Li and P NMR study in the paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic phase. LiMnPO4 shows a strong anisotropy of the dipolar hyperfine coupling due to the strong local magnetic moments at the Mn site. The corresponding dipole tensor of the Li- and P-nuclei is fully determined by orientation and temperature dependent NMR experiments and compared to the calculated values from crystal structure data. Deviations of the experimentally determined values from the theoretical ones are discussed in terms of Mn disorder which could have an impact on the mobility of the Li ions. The disorder is corroborated by diffuse x-ray diffraction experiments which indicate a shift of the heavy elements in the lattice, namely the Mn atoms. Furthermore, the spin arrangement in the relative strong field of 7.0494 T in the antiferromagnetic state is understood by the NMR measurements. In order to obtain parameters of the Li ion diffusion in LiMnPO4 measurements of the spin lattice relaxation rate were performed. Due to the strong dipolar coupling between the Li-nuclei and the magnetic moments at the Mn site it is difficult to extract parameters which can characterize the diffusive behavior of the Li ions. The second section reports on the AC/DC susceptibility and NMR/NQR studies on Li deficit samples labeled as Li0.9FeAs. LiFeAs belongs to the family of the superconducting Pnictides which are discovered in 2008 by H. Hosono et al. In recent studies the stoichiometric compound reveals triplet superconductivity below Tc ∼ 18 K which demands ferromagnetic coupling of the electrons in the Cooper pairs. In Li0.9FeAs the Li deficit acts like hole doping which suppresses the superconductivity. Then ferromagnetism can arise which is very interesting because of the vicinity to the triplet superconductivity. With the microscopic methods NMR/NQR on the Li and As nuclei, it was investigated where the ferromagnetism can be located in Li0.9FeAs. Recent susceptibility, ESR and µSR studies reveal an internal field due to the ferromagnetism. In contrast, the internal field could not be used to perform zero field NMR measurements. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. In addition, the automatic insitu AC susceptibility technique by using the NMR radio frequency circuit has been tested by a reference compound Co2TiGa which shows itinerant ferromagnetism. Similar curves are observed for Li0.9FeAs which indicate the existence of itinerant magnetic moments in Li0.9FeAs. Furthermore, in order to determine the size of the dipolar contribution from the magnetic moments of the Fe the dipolar hyperfine coupling tensor was calculated from the crystal structure data. The comparison of the experimental and calculated hyperfine coupling elements reveals transferred hyperfine fields in LiFeAs.

In this dissertation we reported our experimental investigation of the magnetic properties of nine low-dimensional vanadium compounds. Two of these materials are completely new (Pb2V5O12 and Pb2VO(PO4)2) and were found during our search for new low-dimensional vanadium oxides. Among the other seven vanadium compounds studied, three were physically investigated for the first time (Sr2VO(PO4)2, BaZnVO(PO4)2 and SrZnVO(PO4)2). Two had hitherto only preliminary, and wrongly interpreted, susceptibility measurements reported in the literature (Sr2V3O9 and Ba2V3O9) while the remaining two (Li2VOSiO4 and Li2VOGeO4) were previously investigated in some detail but the interpretation of the data was controversial. We investigated the magnetic properties of these materials by means of magnetic susceptibility and specific heat (Cp(T)) measurements (as well as single crystal ESR measurements in the case of Sr2V3O9). We synthesized the samples necessary for our physical studies. That required a search of the optimal synthesis conditions for obtaining pure, high quality, polycrystalline samples. Single crystals of Sr2V3O9 and Pb2VO(PO4)2 were also successfully grown. Pb2VO(PO4)2, BaZnVO(PO4)2, SrZnVO(PO4)2, Li2VOSiO4 and Li2VOGeO4 were found to be experimental examples of frustrated square-lattice systems which are described by the J1-J2 model. We found that Li2VOSiO4 and Li2VOGeO4 posses a weakly frustrated antiferromagnetic square lattice while Pb2VO(PO4)2, BaZnVO(PO4)2 and SrZnVO(PO4)2 form a more strongly frustrated ferromagnetic square lattice. Pb2V5O12 is structurally and compositionally related to the two dimensional A2+V4+nO2n+1 vanadates. Its structure consists of layers formed by edge- and corner-shared square VO5 pyramids. The basic structural units are plaquettes consisting of six corner-shared pyramids pointing in the same direction, which form a spin lattice of novel geometry. / In dieser Dissertation berichteten wir über unsere experimentelle Untersuchung der magnetischen Eigenschaften von neun Niedrigdimensionalen vanadiumverbindungen. Zwei dieser Materialien sind vollständig neu (Pb2VO12 und Pb2VO(PO4)2) und wurden während unserer Suche nach neuen Niedrigdimensionalen Vanadiumoxiden gefunden. Unter den anderen sieben studierten Vanadiumverbindungen, wurden drei physikalisch zum ersten Mal nachgeforscht (Sr2VO(PO4)2, BaZnVO(PO4)2 und SrZnVO(PO4)2). Zwei hatten bisher nur einleitendes, und falsch gedeutet, magnetische Susceptibilitaet Messungen, die in der Literatur berichtet wurden (Sr2V3O9 und Ba2V3O9) während die restlichen zwei (Li2VOSiO4 und Li2VOGeO4) vorher in irgendeinem Detail aber in der Deutung der Daten waren umstritten nachgeforscht wurden. Wir forschten die magnetischen Eigenschaften dieser Materialien mittels der magnetischen Susceptibilitaet und der spezifischen Waerme (Cp(T)) nach (sowie ESR-Messungen des einzelnen Kristalles im Fall von Sr2V3O9). Wir synthetisierten die Proben, die für unsere körperlichen Studien notwendig sind. Das erforderte eine Suche der optimalen Synthesezustände für das Erreichen der reinen, hohen Qualität, polykristalline Proben. Einzelne Kristalle von Sr2V3O9 und von Pb2VO(PO4)2 wurden auch erfolgreich gewachsen. Pb2VO(PO4)2, BaZnVO(PO4)2, SrZnVO(PO4)2, Li2VOSiO4 und Li2VOGeO4 werden gefunden, um experimentelle Beispiele der frustrierten Quadrat-Gittersysteme zu sein, die durch das J1-j2 model. Wir fanden daß posses Li2VOSiO4 und Li2VOGeO4 ein schwach frustriertes antiferromagnetische quadratisches Gitter, während Pb2VO(PO4)2, BaZnVO(PO4)2 und SrZnVO(PO4)2 ein stärker frustriertes ferromagnetisches quadratisches Gitter bilden. Pb2V5O12 strukturell und zusammenhängt kreativ mit den zweidimensionalen vanadates A2+V4+nO2n+1 beschrieben werden. Seine Struktur besteht aus den Schichten, die durch Rand und Ecke-geteilte quadratische Pyramiden VO5 gebildet werden. Die grundlegenden strukturellen Maßeinheiten sind die plaquettes, die aus sechs Ecke-geteilten Pyramiden bestehen, die in die gleiche Richtung zeigen, die ein Drehbeschleunigunggitter von Romangeometrie bilden.

The magnetization processes of antiferromagnetically (AF) coupled Co/Pt multilayers on extended substrates and of Co/Pd multilayers deposited on arrays of 58 nm spheres are investigated via magnetic force microscopy at room temperature by imaging the domain configuration in magnetic fields. Adding AF exchange to such perpendicular anisotropy systems changes the typical energy balance that controls magnetic band domain formation, thus resulting in two competing reversal modes for the system. In the ferromagnetic (FM) dominated regime the magnetization forms FM band domains, vertically correlated. By applying a magnetic field, a transition from band to bubble domains is observed. In the AF-exchange dominated regime, by applying a field or varying the temperature it is possible to alter the magnetic correlation from horizontal (AF state) to vertical (FM state) via the formation of specific multidomain states, called metamagnetic domains. A theoretical model, developed for complex multilayers is applied to the experimentally studied multilayer architecture, showing a good agreement. Magnetic nanoparticles have attracted considerable interest in recent years due to possible applications in high density data storage technology. Requirements are a well defined and localized magnetic switching behavior and a large thermal stability in zero fields. The thermal stability of [Co/Pt]N multilayers with different numbers of repeats (N), deposited on nanospheres is studied by magnetic viscosity measurements. The magnetic activation volume, representing the effect of thermal activation on the switching process, is estimated. It is found that the activation volume is much smaller than the volume of the nanosphere and almost independent of the number of bilayers supporting an inhomogeneous magnetization reversal process.

Multiferroika, also Materialien, die gleichzeitig ferroelektrische und ferromagnetische Eigenschaften besitzen, sind sowohl für die Forschung um das Verständnis dieser Eigenschaften als auch für potentielle Anwendungen in neuartigen Speichern von großem Interesse. Die Rasterkraftmikroskopie spielt hierbei eine entscheidende Rolle, da mit ihrer Hilfe die Eigenschaften solcher Probensysteme auf der Nanometerlängenskala untersucht werden können. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden drei unterschiedliche multiferroische Systeme auf ihre ferroelektrischen und ferromagnetischen Eigenschaften sowie auf deren Kopplung hin mit Hilfe verschiedener Methoden der Rasterkraftmikroskopie untersucht. Im Grundlagenteil dieser Arbeit wird dazu zunächst eine Methode vorgestellt, mit der magnetische Spitzen für die Rasterkraftmikroskopie charakterisiert werden können, so dass in experimentellen Untersuchungen die Wechselwirkung zwischen der untersuchenden Spitze und der untersuchten Probe besser abgeschätzt werden kann. Des Weiteren wird eine Möglichkeit vorgestellt, Kelvin-Sonden-Rasterkraftmikroskopie mit der magnetischen Rasterkraftmikroskopie zu kombinieren, um elektrostatische Artefakte bei den Untersuchungen der magnetischen Eigenschaften auszuschließen. Im experimentellen Teil der Arbeit werden zuerst die beiden einphasigen Multiferroika BiFeO3 und BiCrO3 untersucht. Es kann experimentell gezeigt werden, dass für die Untersuchung der ferromagnetischen Eigenschaften von Multiferroika die Kombination aus Kelvin-Sonden-Rasterkraftmikroskopie und magnetischer Rasterkraftmikroskopie notwendig ist und mit dieser Technik die magnetischen und elektrostatischen Kräfte ohne Übersprechen voneinander getrennt werden können. Mit Hilfe der Piezoantwort-Rasterkraftmikroskopie werden die ferroelektrischen Domänen dieser Systeme untersucht und lokal die Polarisationsrichtung in den einzelnen Domänen bestimmt. Weiterhin wird an einem Schichtsystem, bestehend aus einem Nickelfilm, der auf BaTiO3 aufgebracht ist, die magnetoelektrische Kopplung analysiert. Hierbei wird vor allem der Einfluss einer elektrischen Spannung auf die leichte magnetische Achse des Nickelfilms studiert, sowie die Veränderung der magnetischen Domänenstruktur in Abhängigkeit der angelegten elektrischen Spannung.

Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Elektronenspinresonanz (ESR) stark korrelierter Elektronensysteme mit ferromagnetischen Wechselwirkungen. Es wurden dafür Messungen an den Kondogitter-Systemen CeRuPO und CeOsPO, der Dotierungsreihe CeFeAs1-xPxO, den niederdimensionalen frustrierten Quadratgittern AA’VO(PO4)2 sowie in dem schwach ferromagnetischen Metall Nb1-yFe2+y durchgeführt. Alle Verbindungen zeigen entweder eine ferromagnetische Ordnung oder befinden sich in der Nähe einer ferromagnetischen Instabilität, die die Eigenschaften des stark korrelierten Systems beeinflusst.