378 research outputs found
Magnetic domain wall propagation in a submicron spin-valve stripe: influence of the pinned layer
The propagation of a domain wall in a submicron ferromagnetic spin-valve
stripe is investigated using giant magnetoresistance. A notch in the stripe
efficiently traps an injected wall stopping the domain propagation. The authors
show that the magnetic field at which the wall is depinned displays a
stochastic nature. Moreover, the depinning statistics are significantly
different for head to head and tail-to-tail domain walls. This is attributed to
the dipolar field generated in the vicinity of the notch by the pinned layer of
the spin-valve
Chiral nature of magnetic monopoles in artificial spin ice
Micromagnetic properties of monopoles in artificial kagome spin ice systems
are investigated using numerical simulations. We show that micromagnetics
brings additional complexity into the physics of these monopoles that is, by
essence, absent in spin models: besides a fractionalized classical magnetic
charge, monopoles in the artificial kagome ice are chiral at remanence. Our
simulations predict that the chirality of these monopoles can be controlled
without altering their charge state. This chirality breaks the vertex symmetry
and triggers a directional motion of the monopole under an applied magnetic
field. Our results also show that the choice of the geometrical features of the
lattice can be used to turn on and off this chirality, thus allowing the
investigation of chiral and achiral monopoles.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
360 degree domain wall generation in the soft layer of magnetic tunnel junctions
High spatial resolution X-ray photo-emission electron microscopy technique
has been used to study the influence of the dipolar coupling taking place
between the NiFe and the Co ferromagnetic electrodes of micron sized,
elliptical shaped magnetic tunnel junctions. The chemical selectivity of this
technique allows to observe independently the magnetic domain structure in each
ferromagnetic electrode. The combination of this powerful imaging technique
with micromagnetic simulations allows to evidence that a 360 degree domain wall
can be stabilized in the NiFe soft layer. In this letter, we discuss the origin
and the formation conditions of those 360 degree domain walls evidenced
experimentally and numerically
Resonance magneto-resistance in double barrier structure with spin-valve
The conductance and tunnel magneto-resistance (TMR) of the double barrier
magnetic tunnel junction with spin-valve sandwich (F/P/F) inserted between two
insulating barrier, are theoretically investigated. It is shown, that resonant
tunnelling, due to the quantum well states of the electron confined between two
barriers, sharply depends on the mutual orientation of the magnetizations of
ferromagnetic layers F. The calculated optimistic value of TMR exceeds 2000% .Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure
Wide range and tunable linear TMR sensor using two exchange pinned electrodes
A magnetic tunnel junction sensor is proposed, with both the detection and
the reference layers pinned by IrMn. Using the differences in the blocking
temperatures of the IrMn films with different thicknesses, crossed anisotropies
can be induced between the detection and the reference electrodes. The pinning
of the sensing electrode ensures a linear and reversible output. It also allows
tuning both the sensitivity and the linear range of the sensor. The authors
show that the sensitivity varies linearly with the ferromagnetic thickness of
the detection electrode. It is demonstrated that an increased thickness leads
to a rise of sensitivity and a reduction of the operating range
Non-universality of artificial frustrated spin systems
Magnetic frustration effects in artificial kagome arrays of nanomagnets with
out-of-plane magnetization are investigated using Magnetic Force Microscopy and
Monte Carlo simulations. Experimental and theoretical results are compared to
those found for the artificial kagome spin ice, in which the nanomagnets have
in-plane magnetization. In contrast with what has been recently reported, we
demonstrate that long range (i.e. beyond nearest-neighbors) dipolar
interactions between the nanomagnets cannot be neglected when describing the
magnetic configurations observed after demagnetizing the arrays using a field
protocol. As a consequence, there are clear limits to any universality in the
behavior of these two artificial frustrated spin systems. We provide arguments
to explain why these two systems show striking similarities at first sight in
the development of pairwise spin correlations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Artificial Kagome Arrays of Nanomagnets: A Frozen Dipolar Spin Ice
Magnetic frustration effects in artificial kagome arrays of nanomagnets are
investigated using x-ray photoemission electron microscopy and Monte Carlo
simulations. Spin configurations of demagnetized networks reveal unambiguous
signatures of long range, dipolar interaction between the nanomagnets. As soon
as the system enters the spin ice manifold, the kagome dipolar spin ice model
captures the observed physics, while the short range kagome spin ice model
fails.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Two types of all-optical magnetization switching mechanisms using femtosecond laser pulses
Magnetization manipulation in the absence of an external magnetic field is a
topic of great interest, since many novel physical phenomena need to be
understood and promising new applications can be imagined. Cutting-edge
experiments have shown the capability to switch the magnetization of magnetic
thin films using ultrashort polarized laser pulses. In 2007, it was first
observed that the magnetization switching for GdFeCo alloy thin films was
helicity-dependent and later helicity-independent switching was also
demonstrated on the same material. Recently, all-optical switching has also
been discovered for a much larger variety of magnetic materials (ferrimagnetic,
ferromagnetic films and granular nanostructures), where the theoretical models
explaining the switching in GdFeCo films do not appear to apply, thus
questioning the uniqueness of the microscopic origin of all-optical switching.
Here, we show that two different all-optical switching mechanisms can be
distinguished; a "single pulse" switching and a "cumulative" switching process
whose rich microscopic origin is discussed. We demonstrate that the latter is a
two-step mechanism; a heat-driven demagnetization followed by a
helicity-dependent remagnetization. This is achieved by an all-electrical and
time-dependent investigation of the all-optical switching in ferrimagnetic and
ferromagnetic Hall crosses via the anomalous Hall effect, enabling to probe the
all-optical switching on different timescales.Comment: 1 page, LaTeX; classified reference number
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