Gerard Joseph Lim

Highly Efficient Domain Walls Injection in Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy Nanowire

Electrical injection of magnetic domain walls in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy nanowire is crucial for data bit writing in domain wall-based magnetic memory and logic devices. Conventionally, the current pulse required to nucleate a domain wall is approximately ~1012 A/m2. Here, we demonstrate an energy efficient structure to inject domain walls. Under an applied electric potential, our proposed Π-shaped stripline generates a highly concentrated current distribution. This creates a highly localized magnetic field that quickly initiates the nucleation of a magnetic domain. The formation and motion of the resulting domain walls can then be electrically detected by means of Ta Hall bars across the nanowire. Our measurements show that the Π-shaped stripline can deterministically write a magnetic data bit in 15 ns even with a relatively low current density of 5.34 × 1011 A/m2. Micromagnetic simulations reveal the evolution of the domain nucleation – first, by the formation of a pair of magnetic bubbles, then followed by their rapid expansion into a single domain. Finally, we also demonstrate experimentally that our injection geometry can perform bit writing using only about 30% of the electrical energy as compared to a conventional injection line.

Coupled Néel domain wall motion in sandwiched perpendicular magnetic anisotropy nanowires

The operating performance of a domain wall-based magnetic device relies on the controlled motion of the domain walls within the ferromagnetic nanowires. Here, we report on the dynamics of coupled Néel domain wall in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) nanowires via micromagnetic simulations. The coupled Néel domain wall is obtained in a sandwich structure, where two PMA nanowires that are separated by an insulating layer are stacked vertically. Under the application of high current density, we found that the Walker breakdown phenomenon is suppressed in the sandwich structure. Consequently, the coupled Néel domain wall of the sandwich structure is able to move faster as compared to individual domain walls in a single PMA nanowire.

In-plane current induced domain wall nucleation and its stochasticity in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy Hall cross structures

Hall cross structures in magnetic nanowires are commonly used for electrical detection of magnetization reversal in which a domain wall (DW) is conventionally nucleated by a local Oersted field. In this letter, we demonstrate DW nucleation in Co/Ni perpendicular magnetic anisotropy nanowire at the magnetic Hall cross junction. The DWs are nucleated by applying an in-plane pulsed current through the nanowire without the need of a local Oersted field. The change in Hall resistance, detected using anomalous Hall effect, is governed by the magnetic volume switched at the Hall junction, which can be tuned by varying the magnitude of the applied current density and pulse width. The nucleated DWs are driven simultaneously under the spin transfer torque effect when the applied current density is above a threshold. The possibility of multiple DW generation and variation in magnetic volume switched makes nucleation process stochastic in nature. The in-plane current induced stochastic nature of DW generation may find applications in random number generation.

Spin orbit torque induced asymmetric depinning of chiral Néel domain wall in Co/Ni heterostructures

In this letter, we report on distinct depinning of a chiral Neel domain wall (DW) driven by spin-orbit torque (SOT) in Co/Ni nanowires with symmetric potential barriers. In these structures, DW propagation was shown to be in the opposite direction to the electron flow as evidenced from current assisted DW depinning measurements. A transition from field dominated DW depinning to SOT dominated DW depinning was observed as the bias current was increased. For SOT dominated DW depinning, the Up-Down DW exhibits a larger depinning field as compared to the Down-Up DW. This is attributed to the interplay between the SOT and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in the structure.

Current-induced three-dimensional domain wall propagation in cylindrical NiFe nanowires

We report on the magnetization configurations in single NiFe cylindrical nanowires grown by template-assisted electrodeposition. Angular anisotropic magnetoresistance measurements reveal that a three-dimensional helical domain wall is formed naturally upon relaxation from a saturated state. Micromagnetic simulations support the helical domain wall properties and its reversal process, which involves a splitting of the clockwise and anticlockwise vortices. When a pulsed current is applied to the nanowire, the helical domain wall propagation is observed with a minimum current density needed to overcome its intrinsic pinning.

Low field domain wall dynamics in artificial spin-ice basis structure

Artificial magnetic spin-ice nanostructures provide an ideal platform for the observation of magnetic monopoles. The formation of a magnetic monopole is governed by the motion of a magnetic charge carrier via the propagation of domain walls (DWs) in a lattice. To date, most experiments have been on the static visualization of DW propagation in the lattice. In this paper, we report on the low field dynamics of DW in a unit spin-ice structure measured by magnetoresistance changes. Our results show that reversible DW propagation can be initiated within the spin-ice basis. The initial magnetization configuration of the unit structure strongly influences the direction of DW motion in the branches. Single or multiple domain wall nucleation can be induced in the respective branches of the unit spin ice by the direction of the applied field.

Characterizing the spin orbit torque field-like term in in-plane magnetic system using transverse field

In this work, we present an efficient method for characterizing the spin orbit torque field-like term in an in-plane magnetized system using the harmonic measurement technique. This method does not require a priori knowledge of the planar and anomalous hall resistances and is insensitive to non-uniformity in magnetization, as opposed to the conventional harmonic technique. We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that the field-like term in the Ta/Co/Pt film stack with in-plane magnetic anisotropy can be obtained by an in-plane transverse field sweep as expected, and magnetization non-uniformity is prevented by the application of fixed magnetic field. The experimental results are in agreement with the analytical calculations.

Observation of large planar Hall effect on the current induced spin-orbit effective fields in Ta/MgO/CoFeB/Ta

Current induced spin-orbit effective magnetic fields in metal/ferromagnet/ oxide trilayer provide an alternative switching mechanism that is more efficient than the conventional spin torque transfer.

Metastable magnetic domain in bifurcated nanowire network probed by domain wall magnetoresistance

We investigate the nanowire network with one input and two outputs for the magneto-resistive signal processing by angle dependent field. The effect of topological defect in the bifurcated nanowire and the angle dependent field leads to a pinned domain wall (DW) and subsequently the local magnetic domain reversal at the junction of triple nanowire network. A transverse DW propagates in a selected part of branch in a network with an alternating magnetic field. The asymmetric MR curve demonstrates how the magnetization configuration affects to the change of resistance due to the interplay between the local magnetization and the propagation of DW at the selected nanowire. The MR measurement reveals that the bifurcated branch is able to obtain the distinct signals via the bifurcated current paths in the magnetic nanowire network. In the experiment, the resistance-sensitive signals related to local magnetization reversal and DW were collected at a low field. The low external field induces the deformation of domain magnetization configuration and DW in the bifurcated branches in nanowire network without any injected DW through a selected input nanowire branch. Then, the MR curve obtained from the nanowire network was compared with micromagnetic simulation configurations.