Magnetic domains and flexomagnetism in Cr2O3

Antiferromagnets, which possess nearly zero magnetic moment and consist of a few magnetic sublattices connected by the symmetry operation of their permutation, represent a perspective material platform for technology and fundamental science. Among a variety of such materials, Cr
2
O
3
is a unique example of the easy axis magnetoelectric material at room temperature. Here, we discuss measuring and manipulation of domain walls in single crystal and polycrystalline Cr
2
O
3
samples, and respective applications including electric access to the texture state: pinning at grain boundaries, elastic degrees of freedom of a domain wall and detection of an uncompensated magnetization, which originates from the spatial distribution of the Néel temperature and is coupled with the strain gradient.