Temperature dependent nucleation, propagation, and annihilation of domain walls in all-perpendicular spin-valve nanopillars
- Department of Physics, New York University, New York, New York 10003 (United States)
- Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France 54506 (France)
- CMRR, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States)
- HGST San Jose Research Center, San Jose, California 95135 (United States)
We present a study of the temperature dependence of the switching fields in Co/Ni-based perpendicularly magnetized spin-valves. While magnetization reversal of all-perpendicular Co/Ni spin valves at ambient temperatures is typically marked by a single sharp step change in resistance, low temperature measurements can reveal a series of resistance steps, consistent with non-uniform magnetization configurations. We propose a model that consists of domain nucleation, propagation, and annihilation to explain the temperature dependence of the switching fields. Interestingly, low temperature (<30 K) step changes in resistance that we associate with domain nucleation have a bimodal switching field and resistance step distribution, attributable to two competing nucleation pathways.
- OSTI ID:
- 22271202
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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