No Arabic abstract
Perpendicularly magnetized nanowires exhibit distinct domain wall types depending on the geometry. Wide wires contain Bloch walls, narrow wires Neel walls. Here, the transition region is investigated by direct imaging of the wall structure using high-resolution spin-polarized scanning electron microscopy. An achiral intermediate wall type is discovered that is unpredicted by established theoretical models. With the help of micromagnetic simulations, the formation of this novel wall type is explained.
We present a study of the temperature dependence of the switching fields in Co/Ni-based perpendicularly magnetized spin-valves. While magnetization reversal of all-perpendicular Co/Ni spin valves at ambient temperatures is typically marked by a single sharp step change in resistance, low temperature measurements can reveal a series of resistance steps, consistent with non-uniform magnetization configurations. We propose a model that consists of domain nucleation, propagation and annihilation to explain the temperature dependence of the switching fields. Interestingly, low temperature (<30 K) step changes in resistance that we associate with domain nucleation, have a bimodal switching field and resistance step distribution, attributable to two competing nucleation pathways.
We report on the time-resolved investigation of current- and field-induced domain wall motion in perpendicularly magnetized microwires exhibiting asymmetric exchange interaction by means of scanning transmission x-ray microscopy using a time step of 200 ps. Dynamical domain wall velocities on the order of 50-100 m s$^{-1}$ were observed. The improvement in the temporal resolution allowed us to observe the absence of incubation times for the motion of the domain wall, together with indications for a negligible inertia. Furthermore, we observed that, for short current and magnetic field pulses, the magnetic domain walls do not exhibit a tilting during its motion, providing a mechanism for the fast, tilt-free, motion of magnetic domain walls.
The nonlinear dynamics of a transverse domain wall (TDW) in Permalloy and Nickel nanostrips with two artificially patterned pinning centers is studied numerically up to rf frequencies. The phase diagram frequency - driving amplitude shows a rich variety of dynamical behaviors depending on the material parameters and the type and shape of pinning centers. We find that T-shaped traps (antinotches) create a classical double well Duffing potential that leads to a small chaotic region in the case of Nickel and a large one for Py. In contrast, the rectangular constrictions (notches) create an exponential potential that leads to larger chaotic regions interspersed with periodic windows for both Py and Ni. The influence of temperature manifests itself by enlarging the chaotic region and activating thermal jumps between the pinning sites while reducing the depinning field at low frequency in the notched strips.
Cylindrical nanowires made of soft magnetic materials, in contrast to thin strips, may host domain walls of two distinct topologies. Unexpectedly, we evidence experimentally the dynamic transformation of topology upon wall motion above a field threshold. Micromagnetic simulations highlight the underlying precessional dynamics for one way of the transformation, involving the nucleation of a Bloch-point singularity, however, fail to reproduce the reverse process. This rare discrepancy between micromagnetic simulations and experiments raises fascinating questions in material and computer science.
Recent analytical and numerical work on field driven domain wall propagation in nanowires has shown that for large transverse anisotropy and sufficiently large applied fields the Walker profile becomes unstable before the breakdown field, giving way to a slower stationary domain wall. We perform an asymptotic expansion of the Landau Lifshitz Gilbert equation for large transverse magnetic anisotropy and show that the asymptotic dynamics reproduces this behavior. At low applied field the speed increases linearly with the field and the profile is the classic Landau profile. Beyond a critical value of the applied field the domain wall slows down. The appearance of a slower domain wall profile in the asymptotic dynamics is due to a transition from a pushed to a pulled front of a reaction diffusion equation.