Benjamin Krüger

Observation of room-temperature magnetic skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ultrathin metallic ferromagnets

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures that exhibit fascinating physical behaviours and large potential in highly energy-efficient spintronic device applications. The main obstacles so far are that skyrmions have been observed in only a few exotic materials and at low temperatures, and fast current-driven motion of individual skyrmions has not yet been achieved. Here, we report the observation of stable magnetic skyrmions at room temperature in ultrathin transition metal ferromagnets with magnetic transmission soft X-ray microscopy. We demonstrate the ability to generate stable skyrmion lattices and drive trains of individual skyrmions by short current pulses along a magnetic racetrack at speeds exceeding 100 m s(-1) as required for applications. Our findings provide experimental evidence of recent predictions and open the door to room-temperature skyrmion spintronics in robust thin-film heterostructures.

Time-resolved X-ray microscopy of spin-torque-induced magnetic vortex gyration

Time-resolved x-ray microscopy is used to image the influence of alternating high-density currents on the magnetization dynamics of ferromagnetic vortices. Spin-torque-induced vortex gyration is observed in micrometer-sized permalloy squares. The phases of the gyration in structures with different chirality are compared to an analytical model and micromagnetic simulations, considering both alternating spin-polarized currents and the currents Oersted field. In our case the driving force due to spin-transfer torque is about 70% of the total excitation while the remainder originates from the currents Oersted field. This finding has implications to magnetic storage devices using spin-torque driven magnetization switching and domain-wall motion.

Inertia and chiral edge modes of a Skyrmion magnetic bubble.

The dynamics of a vortex in a thin-film ferromagnet resembles the motion of a charged massless particle in a uniform magnetic field. Similar dynamics is expected for other magnetic textures with a nonzero Skyrmion number. However, recent numerical simulations reveal that Skyrmion magnetic bubbles show significant deviations from this model. We show that a Skyrmion bubble possesses inertia and derive its mass from the standard theory of a thin-film ferromagnet. In addition to center-of-mass motion, other low energy modes are waves on the edge of the bubble traveling with different speeds in opposite directions.

Harmonic oscillator model for current-and field-driven magnetic vortices

Institut fu¨r Angewandte Physik und Zentrum fu¨r Mikrostrukturforschung,Universita¨t Hamburg, Jungiusstr. 11, 20355 Hamburg, Germany(Dated: February 2, 2008)In experiments the distinction between spin-torque and Oersted-field driven magnetization dynamics is stillan open problem. Here, the gyroscopic motion of current- andfield-driven magnetic vortices in small thin-film elements is investigated by analytical calculations an d by numerical simulations. It is found that for smallharmonic excitations the vortex core performs an elliptical rotation around its equilibrium position. The globalphase of the rotation and the ratio between the semi-axes aredetermined by the frequency and the amplitude ofthe Oersted field and the spin torque.

Synchronous precessional motion of multiple domain walls in a ferromagnetic nanowire by perpendicular field pulses

Magnetic storage and logic devices based on magnetic domain wall motion rely on the precise and synchronous displacement of multiple domain walls. The conventional approach using magnetic fields does not allow for the synchronous motion of multiple domains. As an alternative method, synchronous current-induced domain wall motion was studied, but the required high-current densities prevent widespread use in devices. Here we demonstrate a radically different approach: we use out-of-plane magnetic field pulses to move in-plane domains, thus combining field-induced magnetization dynamics with the ability to move neighbouring domain walls in the same direction. Micromagnetic simulations suggest that synchronous permanent displacement of multiple magnetic walls can be achieved by using transverse domain walls with identical chirality combined with regular pinning sites and an asymmetric pulse. By performing scanning transmission X-ray microscopy, we are able to experimentally demonstrate in-plane magnetized domain wall motion due to out-of-plane magnetic field pulses.

Proposal for a Standard Problem for Micromagnetic Simulations Including Spin-Transfer Torque

of micromagnetic simulation tools. The work is based on the micromagnetic model extended by the spin-transfer torque in continuously varying magnetizations as proposed by Zhang and Li. The standard problem geometry is a permalloy cuboid of 100 nm edge length and 10 nm thickness, which contains a Landau pattern with a vortex in the center of the structure. A spin-polarized dc current density of 10 12 A/m 2 ows laterally through the cuboid and moves the vortex core to a new steady-state position. We show that the new vortex-core position is a sensitive measure for the correctness of micromagnetic simulators that include the spin-transfer torque. The suitability of the proposed problem as a standard problem is tested by numerical results from four dierent nite-dierence and nite-element-based simulation tools.

Current-and field-driven magnetic antivortices for nonvolatile data storage

We demonstrate by micromagnetic simulations that magnetic antivortices are potential candidates for fast nonvolatile data-storage elements. These storage elements are excited simultaneously by alternating spin-polarized currents and their accompanying Oersted fields. Depending on the antivortex-core polarization p and the orientation of the in-plane magnetization c around the core, the superposition of current and field leads to either a suppression of gyration (logical “zero”) or an increased gyration amplitude (logical “one”). Above an excitation threshold the gyration culminates in the switching of the antivortex core. The switching can be seen as a cp-dependent writing of binary data, allowing to bring the antivortex into a distinct state. Furthermore a read-out scheme using an inductive loop situated on top of the element is investigated.

Current-driven domain-wall dynamics in curved ferromagnetic nanowires

The current-induced motion of a domain wall in a semicircle nanowire with applied Zeeman field is investigated. Starting from a micromagnetic model we derive an analytical solution which characterizes the domain-wall motion as a harmonic oscillation. This solution relates the micromagnetic material parameters with the dynamical characteristics of a harmonic oscillator: i.e., domain-wall mass, resonance frequency, damping constant, and force acting on the wall. The time derivative of the current density greatly contributes to the force on the domain wall. For wires with strong curvature the dipole moment of the wall as well as its geometry influence the eigenmodes of the oscillator. Based on these results we suggest experiments for the determination of material parameters which otherwise are difficult to access. Numerical calculations confirm our analytical solution and show its limitations.

Current- and field-driven magnetic antivortices

Antivortices in ferromagnetic thin-film elements are in-plane magnetization configurations with a core pointing perpendicular to the plane. By using micromagnetic simulations, we find that magnetic antivortices gyrate on elliptical orbits similar to magnetic vortices when they are excited by alternating magnetic fields or by spin-polarized currents. The phase between high-frequency excitation and antivortex gyration is investigated. In case of excitation by spin-polarized currents the phase is determined by the polarization of the antivortex, while for excitation by magnetic fields the phase depends on the polarization as well as on the in-plane magnetization. Simultaneous excitation by a current and a magnetic field can lead to a maximum enhancement or to an entire suppression of the amplitude of the core gyration, depending on the angle between excitation and in-plane magnetization. This variation of the amplitude can be used to experimentally distinguish between spin-torque and Oersted-field driven motion of an antivortex core.

A Fast Finite-Difference Method for Micromagnetics Using the Magnetic Scalar Potential

We propose a method for the stray-field computation of ferromagnetic microstructures via the magnetic scalar potential. The scalar potential is computed using the convolution theorem and the fast Fourier transform. For the discrete convolution an analytical expression for the scalar potential of a uniformly magnetized cuboid is presented. A performance gain of up to 55% compared to common simulation codes is achieved and the memory consumption is reduced by 30%. Since the stray-field computation is the most time consuming part of micromagnetic simulations, this performance gain strongly influences the overall performance. The low memory consumption allows simulations with a high number of simulation cells. This enables simulations of large systems like arrays of coupled magnetic vortices or simulations with high spatial resolution. In conjunction with modern hardware, simulations of microstructures with atomic resolution become feasible.