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Spintronics materials have recently been considered for radio-frequency devices such as oscillators by exploiting the transfer of spin angular momentum between a spin-polarized electrical current and the magnetic nanostructure it passes through. While previous spin-transfer oscillators (STOs) were based on in-plane magnetized structures, here we present the realization of an STO that contains a perpendicular spin current polarizer combined with an in-plane magnetized free layer. This device is characterized by high-frequency oscillations of the free-layer magnetization, consistent with out-of-plane steady-state precessions induced at the threshold current by a spin-transfer torque from perpendicularly polarized electrons. The results are summarized in static and dynamic current–field state diagrams and will be of importance for the design of STOs with enhanced output signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The dynamic state diagram for spin current-induced magnetization dynamics is presented for an out-of-plane magnetized (perpendicular) polarizer and an in-plane magnetized (planar) free layer as obtained from macrospin simulations. The state boundaries are compared upon using a constant spin polarization factor with an angular-dependent spin polarization factor g(θ MP) as introduced by Slonczewski. While two critical boundaries remain unaffected by the angular dependence of the polarization, the transition from precession to an out-of-plane stable state is drastically shifted and shows a strong asymmetry with respect to the sign of the spin-polarized current. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]