No Arabic abstract
The torque generated by the transfer of spin angular momentum from a spin-polarized current to a nanoscale ferromagnet can switch the orientation of the nanomagnet much more efficiently than a current-generated magnetic field, and is therefore in development for use in next-generation magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Up to now, only DC currents and square-wave current pulses have been investigated in spin-torque switching experiments. Here we present measurements showing that spin transfer from a microwave-frequency pulse can produce a resonant excitation of a nanomagnet and lead to improved switching characteristics in combination with a square current pulse. With the assistance of a microwave-frequency pulse, the switching time is reduced and achieves a narrower distribution than when driven by a square current pulse alone, and this can permit significant reductions in the integrated power required for switching. Resonantly excited switching may also enable alternative, more compact MRAM circuit architectures.
Transfer of angular momentum from a spin-polarized current to a ferromagnet provides an efficient means to control the dynamics of nanomagnets. A peculiar consequence of this spin-torque, the ability to induce persistent oscillations of a nanomagnet by applying a dc current, has previously been reported only for spatially uniform nanomagnets. Here we demonstrate that a quintessentially nonuniform magnetic structure, a magnetic vortex, isolated within a nanoscale spin valve structure, can be excited into persistent microwave-frequency oscillations by a spin-polarized dc current. Comparison to micromagnetic simulations leads to identification of the oscillations with a precession of the vortex core. The oscillations, which can be obtained in essentially zero magnetic field, exhibit linewidths that can be narrower than 300 kHz, making these highly compact spin-torque vortex oscillator devices potential candidates for microwave signal-processing applications, and a powerful new tool for fundamental studies of vortex dynamics in magnetic nanostructures.
We present a time-resolved study of the magnetization dynamics in a microstructured Cr$|$Heusler$|$Pt waveguide driven by the Spin-Hall-Effect and the Spin-Transfer-Torque effect via short current pulses. In particular, we focus on the determination of the threshold current at which the spin-wave damping is compensated. We have developed a novel method based on the temporal evolution of the magnon density at the beginning of an applied current pulse at which the magnon density deviates from the thermal level. Since this method does not depend on the signal-to-noise ratio, it allows for a robust and reliable determination of the threshold current which is important for the characterization of any future application based on the Spin-Transfer-Torque effect.
In a ferromagnetic nanodisk, the magnetization tends to swirl around in the plane of the disk and can point either up or down at the center of this magnetic vortex. This binary state can be useful for information storage. It is demonstrated that a single nanosecond current pulse can switch the core polarity. This method also provides the precise control of the core direction, which constitutes fundamental technology for realizing a vortex core memory.
An experimental investigation of the critical current noise in underdamped niobium based Josephson junctions by a technique based on the switching current measurements is reported. By sweeping the junction with a current ramp we measure the critical current switching using the standard time of flight technique and analyze the data to extract the current noise. The experimental results show a linear behavior of the current white noise from both the junction area and the temperature. These measurement provide very useful information about the intrinsic noise of Josephson devices involving SQUIDs and qubits.
This paper shows that the presence of two dynamical regimes, characterized by different precessional-axis, is the origin of the non-monotonic behavior of the output integrated power for large-amplitude magnetization precession driven by spin-polarized current in nanoscale exchange biased spin-valves. In particular, at the transition current between those two regimes exists an abruptly loss in the integrated output power. After the introduction of a time-frequency analysis of magnetization dynamics based on the wavelet transform, we performed a numerical experiment by means of micromagnetic simulations. Our results predicted that, together with a modulation of the frequency of the main excited mode of the magnetization precession, at high non-linear dynamical regime the instantaneous output power of the spin-torque oscillator can disappear and then reappear at nanosecond scale.