Time-resolved imaging of magnetic vortex dynamics using holography with extended reference autocorrelation by linear differential operator

The magnetisation dynamics of the vortex core and Landau pattern of magnetic thin-film elements has been studied using holography with extended reference autocorrelation by linear differential operator (HERALDO). Here we present the first time-resolved x-ray measurements using this technique and investigate the structure and dynamics of the domain walls after excitation with nanosecond pulsed magnetic fields. It is shown that the average magnetisation of the domain walls has a perpendicular component that can change dynamically depending on the parameters of the pulsed excitation. In particular, we demonstrate the formation of wave bullet-like excitations, which are generated in the domain walls and can propagate inside them during the cyclic motion of the vortex core. Based on numerical simulations we also show that, besides the core, there are four singularities formed at the corners of the pattern. The polarisation of these singularities has a direct relation to the vortex core, and can be switched dynamically by the wave bullets excited with a magnetic pulse of specific parameters. The subsequent dynamics of the Landau pattern is dependent on the particular configuration of the polarisations of the core and the singularities

Magnetic vortex core reversal by excitation with short bursts of an alternating field

Van Waeyenberge B, Puzic A, Stoll H, et al. Magnetic vortex core reversal by excitation with short bursts of an alternating field. NATURE. 2006;444(7118):461-464.The vortex state, characterized by a curling magnetization, is one of the equilibrium configurations of soft magnetic materials(1-4) and occurs in thin ferromagnetic square and disk-shaped elements of micrometre size and below. The interplay between the magneto-static and the exchange energy favours an in-plane, closed flux domain structure. This curling magnetization turns out of the plane at the centre of the vortex structure, in an area with a radius of about 10 nanometres-the vortex core(5-7). The vortex state has a specific excitation mode: the in-plane gyration of the vortex structure about its equilibrium position(8-10). The sense of gyration is determined by the vortex core polarization(11). Here we report on the controlled manipulation of the vortex core polarization by excitation with small bursts of an alternating magnetic field. The vortex motion was imaged by time-resolved scanning transmission X-ray microscopy(12). We demonstrate that the sense of gyration of the vortex structure can be reversed by applying short bursts of the sinusoidal excitation field with amplitude of about 1.5 mT. This reversal unambiguously indicates a switching of the out-of-plane core polarization. The observed switching mechanism, which can be understood in the framework of micromagnetic theory, gives insights into basic magnetization dynamics and their possible application in data storage