Domain-wall oscillations studies by time-resolved soft x-ray mircorscopy
Fast magnetization dynamics in the micro- and nanometer regime are an interesting field of research. On these length scales magnetic structures can be designed to contain a single vortex or a single domain wall. Both size and speed of these patterns are of great interest in todays research for prospective non-volatile data storage devices. Especially the possibility to move domain-walls by spin-polarized current gained a lot of interest. Magnetic configurations can be imaged by soft X-ray magnetic microscopy with a spatial resolution down to 15 nm. By a stroboscopic pump and probe measurement scheme a temporal resolution below 100 ps is achieved. This provides the opportunity to directly image changes in magnetic domains and domain-wall motion. We image oscillations of a single domain wall in a confining potential in time steps of 200 ps by time resolved X-ray microscopy at the full-field soft X-ray transmission microscope at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley (beamline 6.1.2). Domain walls are prepared in permalloy nanostructures with a restoring potential. The oscillation of a 180{sup o} domain wall is triggered by nanosecond current pulses. The spin-polarized current and the accompanying Oersted field can contribute to the motion of the wall. By analysis of the distinct domain-wall dynamics the dominant contribution is determined. In our geometry the motion of the wall is determined by the Oersted field although the spin-polarized current directly flows through the ferromagnetic structure. An analytical model of a rigid particle precisely describes the domain-wall motion. Oscillations are studied for different pulse length and amplitudes. From the observed oscillations we extract the driving force, the confining potential, and the domain-wall mass. Nonharmonic terms determine the motion of the wall. The influence of the nonharmonic potential is studied by looking at various phase spaces of the domain-wall motion.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Materials Sciences Division
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 957062
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-1845E-Ext.-Abs; TRN: US1000673
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 20th Interntional colloquium on magnetic films and surfaces, Berlin, Germany, July 20-24, 2009
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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