Mechanism of antiphase antiferromagnetic domain-boundary formation

Determine the formation mechanism of antiphase antiferromagnetic domain boundaries in MnBi₂Te₄, including whether the boundaries arise from destructive interference caused by phase differences between adjacent antiferromagnetic domains.

Background

The direct coherent X-ray imaging measurements of MnBi₂Te₄ reveal horizontal, wavy lines attributed to antiphase antiferromagnetic domain boundaries. These boundaries separate adjacent antiferromagnetic domains and are associated with a 180° phase difference between them. Although destructive interference from phase differences has been proposed as an explanation, the paper states that the formation mechanism remains unresolved. Understanding this mechanism is important for interpreting antiferromagnetic textures in direct-CXI images.

References

The formation mechanism of AFM domain boundaries remains under discussion; it is currently attributed to destructive interference arising from phase differences between domains.

— Fresnel diffraction imaging of surface nanostructure using coherent resonant X-ray scattering  (2608.17377 - Burgard et al., 18 Aug 2026) in Section 3, Results and Discussion, paragraph beginning “Figures 2 (a)-(d) show”