Spin-transfer-torque-assisted domain-wall creep in a Co/Pt multilayer wire

Universality classes of the domain-wall creep motion driven by spin-transfer torques

With the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, we numerically simulate the creep motion of a magnetic domain wall driven by the adiabatic and nonadiabatic spin-transfer torques induced by the electric current. The creep exponent μ and the roughness exponent ζ are accurately determined from the scaling behaviors. The creep motions driven by the adiabatic and nonadiabatic spin-transfer torques belong to different universality classes. The scaling relation between μ and ζ based on certain simplified assumptions is valid for the nonadiabatic spin-transfer torque, while invalid for the adiabatic one. Our results are compatible with the experimental ones, but go beyond the existing theoretical prediction. Our investigation reveals that the disorder-induced pinning effect on the domain-wall rotation alters the universality class of the creep motion.

Increased Efficiency of Current-Induced Motion of Chiral Domain Walls by Interface Engineering

Magnetic racetrack devices are promising candidates for next-generation memories. These spintronic shift-register devices are formed from perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnet/heavy metal thin-film systems. Data are encoded in domain wall magnetic bits that have a chiral Néel structure that is stabilized by an interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. The bits are manipulated by spin currents generated from electrical currents that are passed through the heavy metal layers. Increased efficiency of the current-induced domain wall motion is a prerequisite for commercially viable racetrack devices. Here, significantly increased efficiency with substantially lower threshold current densities and enhanced domain wall velocities is demonstrated by the introduction of atomically thin 4d and 5d metal "dusting" layers at the interface between the lower magnetic layer of the racetrack (here cobalt) and platinum. The greatest efficiency is found for dusting layers of palladium and rhodium, just one monolayer thick, for which the domain wall's velocity is increased by up to a factor of 3.5. Remarkably, when the heavy metal layer is formed from the dusting layer material alone, the efficiency is rather reduced by an order of magnitude. The results point to the critical role of interface engineering for the development of efficient racetrack memory devices.

Tuning spin-orbit torques at magnetic domain walls in epitaxial Pt/Co/Pt1-x Au x trilayers

Magnetic domain walls (DWs) in perpendicularly magnetised thin films are attractive for racetrack memories, but technological progress still requires further reduction of the operationing currents. To efficiently drive these objects by the means of electric current, one has to optimize the damping-like torque which is caused by the spin Hall effect (SHE). This not only requires a high net spin Hall angle but also the presence of a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) to produce magnetic textures sensitive to this type of the torque. In this work, we explore the coexistence and importance of these two phenomena in epitaxial Pt/Co/Pt_1-x Au _x films in which we control the degree of inversion symmetry-breaking between the two interfaces by varying x. Gold is used as a material with negligible induced magnetic moment and SHE and the interface between Co/Au as a source of a small DMI. We find no current-induced DW motion in the symmetric Pt/Co/Pt (x = 0) trilayer. By fitting a one-dimensional model to the DW velocity as a function of drive current density and in-plane applied field in samples with non-zero values of x, we find that both net DMI strength and spin Hall angle rise monotonically as Au is introduced. They reach values of 0.75 ± 0.05 mJ m^-2 and 0.10 ± 0.01, respectively, for Pt/Co/Au (x = 1).

Discrete Hall resistivity contribution from Néel skyrmions in multilayer nanodiscs

Magnetic skyrmions are knot-like quasiparticles. They are candidates for non-volatile data storage in which information is moved between fixed read and write terminals. The read-out operation of skyrmion-based spintronic devices will rely on the electrical detection of a single magnetic skyrmion within a nanostructure. Here we present Pt/Co/Ir nanodiscs that support skyrmions at room temperature. We measured the Hall resistivity and simultaneously imaged the spin texture using magnetic scanning transmission X-ray microscopy. The Hall resistivity is correlated to both the presence and size of the skyrmion. The size-dependent part matches the expected anomalous Hall signal when averaging the magnetization over the entire disc. We observed a resistivity contribution that only depends on the number and sign of skyrmion-like objects present in the disc. Each skyrmion gives rise to 22 ± 2 nΩ cm irrespective of its size. This contribution needs to be considered in all-electrical detection schemes applied to skyrmion-based devices. Not only the area of Néel skyrmions but also their number and sign contribute to their Hall resistivity.

Interaction of two domain walls during spin-torque-induced coherent motion

We show that the application of a spin-polarized current to a double p domain wall system with a variable distance between the walls results in an interaction between the two domain walls. The transmission spectrum changes from that of a spin-dependent resonant double barrier to one like a [Formula: see text] wall. In addition, the spin torque on each individual wall creates coupled motion in the domain walls. The walls move independently with a fast speed at large separations, but slow considerably at small separations.

Current-induced switching of perpendicularly magnetized magnetic layers using spin torque from the spin Hall effect

We show that in a perpendicularly magnetized Pt/Co bilayer the spin-Hall effect (SHE) in Pt can produce a spin torque strong enough to efficiently rotate and switch the Co magnetization. We calculate the phase diagram of switching driven by this torque, finding quantitative agreement with experiments. When optimized, the SHE torque can enable memory and logic devices with similar critical currents and improved reliability compared to conventional spin-torque switching. We suggest that the SHE torque also affects current-driven magnetic domain wall motion in Pt/ferromagnet bilayers.

Current-induced torques in magnetic materials

The magnetization of a magnetic material can be reversed by using electric currents that transport spin angular momentum. In the reciprocal process a changing magnetization orientation produces currents that transport spin angular momentum. Understanding how these processes occur reveals the intricate connection between magnetization and spin transport, and can transform technologies that generate, store or process information via the magnetization direction. Here we explain how currents can generate torques that affect the magnetic orientation and the reciprocal effect in a wide variety of magnetic materials and structures. We also discuss recent state-of-the-art demonstrations of current-induced torque devices that show great promise for enhancing the functionality of semiconductor devices.

Roles of the magnetic field and electric current in thermally activated domain wall motion in a submicrometer magnetic strip with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

We have experimentally studied micrometer-scale domain wall (DW) motion driven by a magnetic field and an electric current in a Co/Pt multilayer strip with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The thermal activation energy for DW motion, along with its scaling with the driving field and current, has been extracted directly from the temperature dependence of the DW velocity. The injection of DC current resulted in an enhancement of the DW velocity independent of the current polarity, but produced no measurable change in the activation energy barrier. Through this analysis, the observed current-induced DW velocity enhancement can be entirely and unambiguously attributed to Joule heating.

Determination of the spin torque non-adiabaticity in perpendicularly magnetized nanowires

Novel nanofabrication methods and the discovery of an efficient manipulation of local magnetization based on spin polarized currents has generated a tremendous interest in the field of spintronics. The search for materials allowing for fast domain wall dynamics requires fundamental research into the effects involved (Oersted fields, adiabatic and non-adiabatic spin torque, Joule heating) and possibilities for a quantitative comparison. Theoretical descriptions reveal a material and geometry dependence of the non-adiabaticity factor β, which governs the domain wall velocity. Here, we present two independent approaches for determining β: (i) measuring the dependence of the dwell times for which a domain wall stays in a metastable pinning state on the injected current and (ii) the current-field equivalence approach. The comparison of the deduced β values highlights the problems of using one-dimensional models to describe two-dimensional dynamics and allows us to ascertain the reliability, robustness and limits of the approaches used.

Domain-wall pinning by local control of anisotropy in Pt/Co/Pt strips

We theoretically and experimentally analyze the pinning of a magnetic domain wall (DW) at engineered anisotropy variations in Pt/Co/Pt strips with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. An analytical model is derived showing that a step in the anisotropy acts as an energy barrier for the DW. Quantitative measurements are performed showing that the anisotropy can be controlled by focused ion beam irradiation with Ga ions. This tool is used to experimentally study the field-induced switching of nanostrips which are locally irradiated. The boundary of the irradiated area indeed acts as a pinning barrier for the domain wall and the pinning strength increases with the anisotropy difference. Varying the thickness of the Co layer provides an additional way to tune the anisotropy, and it is shown that a thinner Co layer gives a higher starting anisotropy thereby allowing tunable DW pinning in a wider range of fields. Finally, we demonstrate that not only the anisotropy itself, but also the width of the anisotropy barrier can be tuned on the length scale of the domain wall.

The stochastic nature of the domain wall motion along high perpendicular anisotropy strips with surface roughness

The domain wall dynamics along thin ferromagnetic strips with high perpendicular magnetocrystalline anisotropy driven by either magnetic fields or spin-polarized currents is theoretically analyzed by means of full micromagnetic simulations and a one-dimensional model, including both surface roughness and thermal effects. At finite temperature, the results show a field dependence of the domain wall velocity in good qualitative agreement with available experimental measurements, indicating a low field, low velocity creep regime, and a high field, linear regime separated by a smeared depinning region. Similar behaviors were also observed under applied currents. In the low current creep regime the velocity-current characteristic does not depend significantly on the non-adiabaticity. At high currents, where the domain wall velocity becomes insensitive to surface pinning, the domain wall shows a precessional behavior even when the non-adiabatic parameter is equal to the Gilbert damping. These analyses confirm the relevance of both thermal fluctuations and surface roughness for the domain wall dynamics, and that complete micromagnetic modeling and one-dimensional studies taking into account these effects are required to interpret the experimental measurements in order to get a better understanding of the origin, the role and the magnitude of the non-adiabaticity.

Electric current effect on the energy barrier of magnetic domain wall depinning: origin of the quadratic contribution

The energy barrier of a magnetic domain wall trapped at a defect is measured experimentally. When the domain wall is pushed by an electric current and/or a magnetic field, the depinning time from the barrier exhibits perfect exponential distribution, indicating that a single energy barrier governs the depinning. The electric current is found to generate linear and quadratic contributions to the energy barrier, which are attributed to the nonadiabatic and adiabatic spin-transfer torques, respectively. The adiabatic spin-transfer torque reduces the energy barrier and, consequently, causes depinning at lower current densities, promising a way toward low-power current-controlled magnetic applications.

Universality classes of magnetic domain wall motion

We examine magnetic domain wall motion in metallic nanowires Pt-Co-Pt. Regardless of whether the motion is driven by either magnetic fields or current, all experimental data fall onto a single universal curve in the creep regime, implying that both the motions belong to the same universality class. This result is in contrast to the report on magnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As exhibiting two different universality classes. Our finding signals the possible existence of yet other universality classes which go beyond the present understanding of the statistical mechanics of driven interfaces.