The temporal evolution of the magnetization vector of a single-domain
magnetostrictive nanomagnet, subjected to in-plane stress, is studied by
solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation. The stress is ramped up linearly
in time and the switching delay, which is the time it takes for the
magnetization to flip, is computed as a function of the ramp rate. For high
levels of stress, the delay exhibits a non-monotonic dependence on the ramp
rate, indicating that there is an {\it optimum} ramp rate to achieve the
shortest delay. For constant ramp rate, the delay initially decreases with
increasing stress but then saturates showing that the trade-off between the
delay and the stress (or the energy dissipated in switching) becomes less and
less favorable with increasing stress. All of these features are due to a
complex interplay between the in-plane and out-of-plane dynamics of the
magnetization vector induced by stress
