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Intra-dot inter-layer magnetostatic coupling have been investigated in trilayers which consist of two [Co/Pt] multilayers with out-of-plane anisotropy and different coercivities separated by a thick Pt layer. For single domain nanodots, the strong intra-dot inter-layer magnetostatic interactions manifest as a shift of the soft layer hysteresis loop. The amplitude of this shift decreases when the size of the dots is increased and/or when the temperature is increased. Satisfactory agreement is found between calculations and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magneto-optical microscopy and magnetometry have been used to study magnetization reversal in an ultrathin magnetically soft (Pt/Co)2 ferromagnetic film coupled to an array of magnetically harder (Co/Pt)4 nanodots via a predominantly dipolar interaction across a 3 nm Pt spacer. This interaction generates a spatially periodic pinning potential for domain walls propagating through the continuous magnetic film. When reversing the applied field with respect to the static nanodot array magnetization orientation, strong asymmetries in the wall velocity and switching fields are observed. Asymmetric switching fields mean that hysteresis of the film is characterized by a large bias field of dipolar origin which is linked to the wall velocity asymmetry. This latter asymmetry, though large at low fields, vanishes at high fields where the domains become round and compact. A field-polarity-controlled transition from dendritic to compact faceted domain structures is also seen at intermediate fields and a model is proposed to interpret the transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report here the development of Pt and Pd-free perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJ) for STT-MRAM applications. We start by studying a p-MTJ consisting of a bottom synthetic Co/Pt reference layer and a synthetic FeCoB/Ru/FeCoB storage layer covered with an MgO layer. We first investigate the evolution of RKKY coupling with Ru spacer thickness in such a storage layer. The coupling becomes antiferromagnetic above 0.5 nm and its strength decreases monotonously with increasing Ru thickness. This contrasts with the behavior of Co-based systems for which a maximum in interlayer coupling is generally observed around 0.8 nm. A thin Ta insertion below the Ru spacer considerably decreases the coupling energy, without basically changing its variation with Ru thickness. After optimization of the non-magnetic and magnetic layer thicknesses, it appears that such a FeCoB/Ru/FeCoB synthetic storage layer sandwiched between MgO barriers can be made stable enough to actually be used as hard reference layer in single or double magnetic tunnel junctions, the storage layer being now a single soft FeCoB layer. Finally, we realize Pt- or Pd-free robust perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions, still keeping the advantage of a synthetic reference layer in terms of reduction of stray fields at small pillar sizes.

Domain wall motion induced by nanosecond current pulses in nanostripes with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (Pt/Co/AlO(x)) is shown to exhibit negligible inertia. Time-resolved magnetic microscopy during current pulses reveals that the domain walls start moving, with a constant speed, as soon as the current reaches a constant amplitude, and no or little motion takes place after the end of the pulse. The very low "mass" of these domain walls is attributed to the combination of their narrow width and high damping parameter α. Such a small inertia should allow accurate control of domain wall motion by tuning the duration and amplitude of the current pulses.

We detail measurements of field-driven expansion and zero-field relaxation of magnetic mirror domains in antiferromagnetically coupled perpendicularly magnetized ultrathin Co layers. The zero-field stability of aligned ('mirror') domains in such systems results from non-homogeneous dipolar stray fields which exist in the vicinity of the domain walls. During field-driven domain expansion, we evidence a separation of the domain walls which form the mirror domain boundary. However, the walls realign, thereby reforming a mirror domain, if their final separation is below a critical distance at the end of the field pulse. This critical distance marks the point at which the effective net interaction between the walls changes from attractive to repulsive.

Modern computing technology is based on writing, storing and retrieving information encoded as magnetic bits. Although the giant magnetoresistance effect has improved the electrical read out of memory elements, magnetic writing remains the object of major research efforts. Despite several reports of methods to reverse the polarity of nanosized magnets by means of local electric fields and currents, the simple reversal of a high-coercivity, single-layer ferromagnet remains a challenge. Materials with large coercivity and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy represent the mainstay of data storage media, owing to their ability to retain a stable magnetization state over long periods of time and their amenability to miniaturization. However, the same anisotropy properties that make a material attractive for storage also make it hard to write to. Here we demonstrate switching of a perpendicularly magnetized cobalt dot driven by in-plane current injection at room temperature. Our device is composed of a thin cobalt layer with strong perpendicular anisotropy and Rashba interaction induced by asymmetric platinum and AlOx interface layers. The effective switching field is orthogonal to the direction of the magnetization and to the Rashba field. The symmetry of the switching field is consistent with the spin accumulation induced by the Rashba interaction and the spin-dependent mobility observed in non-magnetic semiconductors, as well as with the torque induced by the spin Hall effect in the platinum layer. Our measurements indicate that the switching efficiency increases with the magnetic anisotropy of the cobalt layer and the oxidation of the aluminium layer, which is uppermost, suggesting that the Rashba interaction has a key role in the reversal mechanism. To prove the potential of in-plane current switching for spintronic applications, we construct a reprogrammable magnetic switch that can be integrated into non-volatile memory and logic architectures. This device is simple, scalable and compatible with present-day magnetic recording technology.

The propagation of magnetic domain walls induced by spin-polarized currents has launched new concepts for memory and logic devices. A wave of studies focusing on permalloy (NiFe) nanowires has found evidence for high domain-wall velocities (100 m s(-1); refs,), but has also exposed the drawbacks of this phenomenon for applications. Often the domain-wall displacements are not reproducible, their depinning from a thermally stable position is difficult and the domain-wall structural instability (Walker breakdown) limits the maximum velocity. Here, we show that the combined action of spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques offers a comprehensive solution to these problems. In an ultrathin Co nanowire, integrated in a trilayer with structural inversion asymmetry (SIA), the high spin-torque efficiency facilitates the depinning and leads to high mobility, while the SIA-mediated Rashba field controlling the domain-wall chirality stabilizes the Bloch domain-wall structure. Thus, the high-mobility regime is extended to higher current densities, allowing domain-wall velocities up to 400 m s(-1)., (© 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved)

We demonstrate experimentally dynamic interface binding in a system consisting of two coupled ferromagnetic layers. While domain walls in each layer have different velocity-field responses, for two broad ranges of the driving field H, walls in the two layers are bound and move at a common velocity. The bound states have their own velocity-field response and arise when the isolated wall velocities in each layer are close, a condition which always occurs as H→0. Several features of the bound states are reproduced using a one-dimensional model, illustrating their general nature.

In addition to a storage function through the magnetization of nanowires, domain wall propagation can be used to trigger magnetic logic functions. Here, we present a new way to realize a pure magnetic logic operation by using magnetic nanowires with perpendicular anisotropy. Emphasis is given on the generation of the logic function 'NOT' that is based on the dipolar interaction between two neighbouring magnetic wires, which favours the creation of a domain wall. This concept has been validated on several prototypes and the results fit well with the expectations.

We report the direct measurement of the nonadiabatic component of the spin torque in domain walls. Our method is independent of both the pinning of the domain wall in the wire as well as of the Gilbert damping parameter. We demonstrate that the ratio between the nonadiabatic and the adiabatic components can be as high as 1, and explain this high value by the importance of the spin-flip rate to the nonadiabatic torque. In addition to their fundamental significance these results open the way for applications by demonstrating a significant increase of the spin torque efficiency.

We report on magnetic domain-wall velocity measurements in ultrathin Pt/Co(0.5-0.8 nm)/Pt films with perpendicular anisotropy over a large range of applied magnetic fields. The complete velocity-field characteristics are obtained, enabling an examination of the transition between thermally activated creep and viscous flow: motion regimes predicted from general theories for driven elastic interfaces in weakly disordered media. The dissipation limited flow regime is found to be consistent with precessional domain-wall motion, analysis of which yields values for the damping parameter, alpha.

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.

The hysteresis loop shift in sub-100 nm ferromagnetic- (FM-)antiferromagnetic (AFM) nanostructures can be either enhanced or reduced with respect to continuous films with the same composition, with varying the AFM layer thickness. An enhancement of the coercivity and a reduction of the blocking temperature are also observed. These effects are mainly ascribed to the physical limitations that the dot sizes impose on the AFM domain size and the concomitant weakening of the pinning strength exerted by the AFM during magnetization reversal of the FM.