Magnetization reversal and two level fluctuations by spin-injection in a ferromagnetic metallic layer

Slow magnetic relaxation and two level fluctuations measurements under high current injection is performed in single-contacted ferromagnetic nanostructures. The magnetic configurations of the samples are described by two metastable states of the uniform magnetization. The current-dependent effective energy barrier due to spin-transfer from the current to the magnetic layer is measured. The comparison between the results obtained with Ni nanowires of 6 $\mu$m length and 60 nm diameter, and Co (10 nm)/Cu (10 nm)/Co(30 nm) nanometric pillars of about 40 nm in diameter refined the characterization of this effect. It is shown that all observed features cannot be reduced to the action of a current dependent effective field. Instead, all measurements can be described in terms of an effective temperature, which depends on the current amplitude and direction. The system is then analogous to an unstable open system. The effect of current induced magnetization reversal is interpreted as the balance of spin injection between both interfaces of the ferromagnetic layer.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Spin-transfer in an open ferromagnetic layer: from negative damping to effective temperature

Spin-transfer is a typical spintronics effect that allows a ferromagnetic layer to be switched by spin-injection. Most of the experimental results about spin transfer are described on the basis of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation of the magnetization, in which additional current-dependent damping factors are added, and can be positive or negative. The origin of the damping can be investigated further by performing stochastic experiments, like one shot relaxation experiments under spin-injection in the activation regime of the magnetization. In this regime, the N\'eel-Brown activation law is observed which leads to the introduction of a current-dependent effective temperature. In order to justify the introduction of these counterintuitive parameters (effective temperature and negative damping), a detailed thermokinetic analysis of the different sub-systems involved is performed. We propose a thermokinetic description of the different forms of energy exchanged between the electric and the ferromagnetic sub-systems at a Normal/Ferromagnetic junction. The corresponding Fokker Planck equations, including relaxations, are derived. The damping coefficients are studied in terms of Onsager-Casimir transport coefficients, with the help of the reciprocity relations. The effective temperature is deduced in the activation regime.Comment: 65 pages, 10 figure

Screening effect in Spin-Hall Devices

The stationary state of the spin-Hall bar is studied in the framework of a variational approach that includes non-equilibrium screening effects. The minimization of the power dissipated in the system is performed with taking into account the spin-flip relaxation and the global constrains due to the electric generator and global charge conservation. The calculation is performed in both approximations of negligible spin-flip scattering and strong spin-flip scattering. In both cases, the expressions of the spin-accumulation and the longitudinal and transverse pure spin-currents are derived analytically. Due to the small value of the Debye-Fermi screening length, the spin-accumulation is shown to be linear in $y$ (across the device), linear in the electric field imposed by the generator, and inversely proportional to the temperature for non-degenerate conductors

Spin-torque switching: Fokker-Planck rate calculation

We describe a new approach to understanding and calculating magnetization switching rates and noise in the recently observed phenomenon of "spin-torque switching". In this phenomenon, which has possible applications to information storage, a large current passing from a pinned ferromagnetic (FM) layer to a free FM layer switches the free layer. Our main result is that the spin-torque effect increases the Arrhenius factor $\exp(-E/kT)$ in the switching rate, not by lowering the barrier $E$, but by raising the effective spin temperature $T$. To calculate this effect quantitatively, we extend Kramers' 1940 treatment of reaction rates, deriving and solving a Fokker-Planck equation for the energy distribution including a current-induced spin torque of the Slonczewski type. This method can be used to calculate slow switching rates without long-time simulations; in this Letter we calculate rates for telegraph noise that are in good qualitative agreement with recent experiments. The method also allows the calculation of current-induced magnetic noise in CPP (current perpendicular to plane) spin valve read heads.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 appendix Original version in Nature format, replaced by Phys. Rev. Letters format. No substantive change