Yoko Yoshimura

Anti-damping spin transfer torque through epitaxial nickel oxide

We prepare the high quality epitaxial MgO(001)[100]/Pt(001)[100]/NiO(001)[100]/FeNi/SiO2 films to investigate the spin transport in the NiO antiferromagnetic insulator. The ferromagnetic resonance measurements of the FeNi under a spin current injection from the Pt by the spin Hall effect revealed the change of the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth depending on the amount of the spin current injection. The results can be interpreted that there is an angular momentum transfer through the NiO. A high efficient angular momentum transfer we observed in the epitaxial NiO can be attributed to the well-defined orientation of the antiferromagnetic moments and the spin quantization axis of the injected spin current.

Two-barrier stability that allows low-power operation in current-induced domain-wall motion

Energy barriers in magnetization reversal dynamics have long been of interest because the barrier height determines the thermal stability of devices as well as the threshold force triggering their dynamics. Especially in memory and logic applications, there is a dilemma between the thermal stability of bit data and the operation power of devices, because larger energy barriers for higher thermal stability inevitably lead to larger magnetic fields (or currents) for operation. Here we show that this is not the case for current-induced magnetic domain-wall motion induced by adiabatic spin-transfer torque. By quantifying domain-wall depinning energy barriers by magnetic field and current, we find that there exist two different pinning barriers, extrinsic and intrinsic energy barriers, which govern the thermal stability and threshold current, respectively. This unique two-barrier system allows low-power operation with high thermal stability, which is impossible in conventional single-barrier systems.

High-speed and reliable domain wall motion device: Material design for embedded memory and logic application

High-speed capability and excellent reliability of a magnetic domain wall (DW) motion device required for embedded memory and logic-in-memory applications were achieved by optimizing the film stack structure of Co/Ni wire. Low-current with high-speed writing, high heat resistance, low error rate, wide operation range for temperature and magnetic field, high retention, and high endurance features were confirmed.

Current-Induced Domain Wall Motion in Perpendicularly Magnetized Co/Ni Nanowire under In-Plane Magnetic Fields

We have investigated current-induced domain wall (DW) motion in a perpendicularly magnetized Co/Ni nanowire under in-plane (hard-axis) and perpendicular (easy-axis) external magnetic fields. The DW velocity was found to be almost independent of them in the range of ±50 Oe. The result shows that reliable device operation against an external magnetic field disturbance can be achieved using the present system.

Transition in mechanism for current-driven magnetic domain wall dynamics

We report a systematic study of the DW motion in perpendicularly magnetized Co/Ni nanowires having different thicknesses with structure inversion asymmetry. The transition from bulk to interfacial effects is confirmed as a change in the DW motion direction at a reduced layer thickness. The bias field dependence reveals that the adiabatic spin transfer torque (STT) dominates the DW motion in the thick regime, whereas the interfacial torque originating from the spin Hall effect (SHE) is responsible for the DW motion with a fixed DW chirality induced by the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in the thin regime.

Effect of spin Hall torque on current-induced precessional domain wall motion

Two important mechanisms for current-induced domain wall (DW) dynamics, namely, precessional DW motion driven by the adiabatic spin transfer torque and steady DW motion induced by the spin Hall torque, have been proposed and experimentally confirmed. However, the effect of the spin Hall torque on precessional DW motion has not been reported yet. Here, we show that the spin Hall torque affects the precessional DW motion when the in-plane field is applied. It is found that the in-plane field induces a half rotation time difference during DW precession, which gives rise to the nonvanishing spin Hall torque on the precessional DW motion.

Observation of asymmetry in domain wall velocity under transverse magnetic field

The dynamics of a magnetic domain wall (DW) under a transverse magnetic field Hy are investigated in two-dimensional (2D) Co/Ni microstrips, where an interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) exists with DMI vector D lying in +y direction. The DW velocity exhibits asymmetric behavior for ±Hy; that is, the DW velocity becomes faster when Hy is applied antiparallel to D. The key experimental results are reproduced in a 2D micromagnetic simulation, which reveals that the interfacial DMI suppresses the periodic change of the average DW angle φ even above the Walker breakdown and that Hy changes φ, resulting in a velocity asymmetry. This suggests that the 2D DW motion, despite its microscopic complexity, simply depends on the average angle of the DW and thus can be described using a one-dimensional soliton model. These findings provide insight into the magnetic DW dynamics in 2D systems, which are important for emerging spin-orbitronic applications.

Operating principle of a three-terminal domain wall device with perpendicularly magnetized Ta/CoFeB/MgO free layer and underlying hard magnets

The behavior of a three-terminal domain wall (DW) device with a perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB free layer and underlying hard magnets was investigated. In a Ta/CoFeB/MgO free layer without hard magnets, a current-induced DW motion in the direction of electron flow was observed. In a device having a hard magnet under each end of the free layer, we found that a DW nucleated by injecting current played an important role in the switching of magnetization. We concluded that the switching of magnetization in our device is due to the displacement in the direction of electron flow of the DW created by current. After deriving the principle of operation through experiments, we describe a way to reduce the current required for writing by increasing the thickness of the hard magnets.

Different stochastic behaviors for magnetic field and current in domain wall creep motion

Magnetic domain wall (DW) creep motions driven by a magnetic field and by the spin Hall (SH) torque are investigated in perpendicularly magnetized Co/Ni nanowires with structural inversion asymmetry. It is found that the DW arrival time distribution becomes wider when a DW is driven by the SH torque compared with that driven by a magnetic field. Our results indicate that the SH torque and a magnetic field drive a DW in different ways in the DW creep regime, although the SH torque is generally considered to induce an effective field.

Field-driven domain wall motion under a bias current in the creep and flow regimes in Pt/[CoSiB/Pt] N nanowires

The dynamics of magnetic domain wall (DW) in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy Pt/[CoSiB/Pt]N nanowires was studied by measuring the DW velocity under a magnetic field (H) and an electric current (J) in two extreme regimes of DW creep and flow. Two important findings are addressed. One is that the field-driven DW velocity increases with increasing N in the flow regime, whereas the trend is inverted in the creep regime. The other is that the sign of spin current-induced effective field is gradually reversed with increasing N in both DW creep and flow regimes. To reveal the underlying mechanism of new findings, we performed further experiment and micromagnetic simulation, from which we found that the observed phenomena can be explained by the combined effect of the DW anisotropy, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, spin-Hall effect, and spin-transfer torques. Our results shed light on the mechanism of DW dynamics in novel amorphous PMA nanowires, so that this work may open a path to utilize the amorphous PMA in emerging DW-based spintronic devices.