Carl Boone

Nonadiabatic stochastic resonance of a nanomagnet excited by spin torque.

Spin transfer torque from spin-polarized electrical current can excite large-amplitude magnetization dynamics in metallic ferromagnets of nanoscale dimensions. Since magnetic anisotropy energies of nanomagnets are comparable to the thermal energy scale, temperature can have a profound effect on the dynamics of a nanomagnet driven by spin transfer torque. Here we report the observation of unusual types of microwave-frequency nonlinear magnetization dynamics co-excited by alternating spin transfer torque and thermal fluctuations. In these dynamics, temperature amplifies the amplitude of GHz-range precession of magnetization and enables excitation of highly nonlinear dynamical states of magnetization by weak alternating spin transfer torque. We explain these thermally activated dynamics in terms of non-adiabatic stochastic resonance of magnetization driven by spin transfer torque. This type of magnetic stochastic resonance may find use in sensitive nanometer-scale microwave signal detectors.

Spin transport parameters in metallic multilayers determined by ferromagnetic resonance measurements of spin-pumping

We measured spin-transport in nonferromagnetic (NM) metallic multilayers from the contribution to damping due to spin pumping from a ferromagnetic Co90Fe10 thin film. The multilayer stack consisted of NM1/NM2/Co90Fe10(2 nm)/NM2/NM3 with varying NM materials and thicknesses. Using conventional theory for one-dimensional diffusive spin transport in metals, we show that the effective damping due to spin pumping can be strongly affected by the spin transport properties of each NM in the multilayer, which permits the use of damping measurements to accurately determine the spin transport properties of the various NM layers in the full five-layer stack. We find that due to its high electrical resistivity, amorphous Ta is a poor spin conductor, in spite of a short spin-diffusion length of 1.0 nm, and that Pt is an excellent spin conductor by virtue of its low electrical resistivity and a spin diffusion length of only 0.5 nm. Spin Hall effect measurements may have underestimated the spin Hall angle in Pt by assumi...

Precise determination of the spectroscopic g-factor by use of broadband ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy

We demonstrate that the spectroscopic g-factor can be determined with high precision and accuracy by broadband ferromagnetic resonance measurements and by applying an asymptotic analysis to the data. Spectroscopic data used to determine the g-factor are always obtained over a finite range of frequencies, which can result in significant errors in the fitted values. We show that by applying an asymptotic analysis to broadband datasets, precise values of the intrinsic g-factor can be determined with errors well below 1%, even when the exact form of the Kittel equation (which describes the relationship between the frequency and resonance field) is unknown. We demonstrate this methodology with measured data obtained for sputtered Ni80Fe20 (Permalloy) thin films of varied thicknesses, where we determine the bulk g-factor value to be 2.109 ± 0.003. Such an approach is further validated by application to simulated data that include both noise and an anisotropy that is not included in the Kittel equation that was ...

Rapid Domain Wall Motion in Permalloy Nanowires Excited by a Spin-Polarized Current Applied Perpendicular to the Nanowire

We study domain wall dynamics in Permalloy nanowires excited by alternating spin-polarized current applied perpendicular to the nanowire. Spin torque ferromagnetic resonance measurements reveal that domain wall oscillations at a pinning site in the nanowire can be excited with velocities as high as 800 m/s at current densities below 10{7} A/cm{2}.

Resonant Nonlinear Damping of Quantized Spin Waves in Ferromagnetic Nanowires: A Spin Torque Ferromagnetic Resonance Study

We use spin torque ferromagnetic resonance to measure the spectral properties of dipole-exchange spin waves in Permalloy nanowires. Our measurements reveal that geometric confinement has a profound effect on the damping of spin waves in the nanowire geometry. The damping parameter of the lowest-energy quantized spin-wave mode depends on applied magnetic field in a resonant way and exhibits a maximum at a field that increases with decreasing nanowire width. This enhancement of damping originates from a nonlinear resonant three-magnon confluence process allowed at a particular bias field value determined by quantization of the spin-wave spectrum in the nanowire geometry.

Experimental test of an analytical theory of spin-torque-oscillator dynamics

We make measurements of power spectral density of the microwave voltage emitted by a spin-torque-nano-oscillator (STNO) consisting of a

Demonstration of microwave assisted magnetic reversal in perpendicular media

{\text{Ni}}_{86}{\text{Fe}}_{14}

Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Reversal in Perpendicular Media

nanowire free layer and a

Magnetic Domain Wall Pumping by Spin Transfer Torque

{\text{Co}}_{50}{\text{Fe}}_{50}

Nanomechanical detection of the spin Hall effect

nanomagnet fixed layer and compare our experimental results to predictions of an analytical theory of a single-mode STNO dynamics [Tiberkevich et al., Phys. Rev. B 78, 092401 (2008)]. We find that a complete set of the oscillator spectral properties\char22{}power, frequency, spectral linewidth, and line shape as functions of current\char22{}is self-consistently described by the analytical theory for moderate amplitudes of oscillations