Freestanding single-crystalline magnetic structures fabricated by ion bombardment

Starting from an ultrathin Fe film grown epitaxially on top of a GaAs(001) substrate, we show that freestanding structures can be created by ion-beam treatment. These structures are single-crystalline blisters and only a few nanometers thick. Anisotropic stress in the rim of a blister induces magnetic domain states magnetized in the direction normal to the blister edge. Experimental evidence is provided that the lateral size can be confined by starting from a nanostructured template.