Domain wall motion in nanowires

We investigated the motion of domain walls in ferromagnetic cylindrical nanowires by solving the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation numerically for a classical spin model in which energy contributions from exchange, crystalline anisotropy, dipole–dipole interactions, and a driving magnetic field are considered. Depending on the diameter, either transverse domain walls or vortex walls are found. A transverse domain wall is observed for diameters smaller than the exchange length of the given system. In this case, the system effectively behaves one dimensionally and the domain wall velocity agrees with the result of Slonczewski for one-dimensional walls. For larger diameters, a crossover to a vortex wall sets in which enhances the domain wall velocity drastically. For a vortex wall the domain wall velocity is described by the Walker formula.     

Effect of fluctuations on the forced motion and interactions of domain walls in one-dimensional magnetic systems

Forced motion of a domain wall in the presence of fluctuations of external magnetic field and those of the parameters of the magnetic medium is studied. Calculations for the models of magnetic systems described by the sine-Gordon and Landau-Lifshitz equations are presented. It is shown that the driven motion of domain walls is characterized by the time-independent velocity distribution function which is used to calculate various statistical characteristics of the domain wall. Analysis of the mean velocity of the steady motion of the domain wall leads to the conclusion that the presence of a fluctuating magnetic field results in an increase of the effective relaxation constant of the magnetic system. In case of the sine-Gordon model the mean radiation power accompanying the forced motion of the domain wall is calculated. Inelastic interactions of two domain walls of opposite polarities are described.     

Mass hierarchy from many domain walls

We construct a new model with exponential mass hierarchy by starting with the Einstein–Hilbert action with the cosmological constant in five dimensions plus an action describing many domain walls in four dimensions. The model includes many hidden sectors and one visible sector, and each four-dimensional domain wall, that is, 3-brane, interacts with one another through only a gravitational interaction and realizes many universe cosmology inspired by D-brane perspective. It is shown that in the present model only even numbers of domain walls are allowed to locate in five dimensional space-time and the validity of Randall–Sundrum scenario, which explains mass hierarchy between the Planck mass and the electro-weak scale in our world, depends on a relative relation between our world and hidden worlds.     

Influence of current on field-driven domain wall motion in permalloy nanowires from time resolved measurements of anisotropic magnetoresistance

The motion of magnetic domain walls in permalloy nanowires is investigated by real-time resistance measurements. The domain wall velocity is measured as a function of the magnetic field in the presence of a current flowing through the nanowire. We show that the current can significantly increase or decrease the domain wall velocity, depending on its direction. These results are understood within a one-dimensional model of the domain wall dynamics which includes the spin transfer torque.     

Current driven domain wall velocities exceeding the spin angular momentum transfer rate in permalloy nanowires

The velocity of domain walls driven by current in zero magnetic field is measured in permalloy nanowires using real-time resistance measurements. The domain wall velocity increases with increasing current density, reaching a maximum velocity of approximately 110 m/s when the current density in the nanowire reaches approximately 1.5 x 10(8) A/cm(2). Such high current driven domain wall velocities exceed the estimated rate at which spin angular momentum is transferred to the domain wall from the flow of spin polarized conduction electrons, suggesting that other driving mechanisms, such as linear momentum transfer, need to be taken into account.     

Nonlinear dynamic structure rearrangement of vortexlike domain walls in magnetic films with in-plane anisotropy

The nonlinear dynamic behavior of vortexlike domain walls in magnetic uniaxial films having an in-plane anisotropy was investigated within a rigorous micromagnetic approach in the framework of a two-dimensional magnetization distribution by numerically solving the Landau–Lifshitz equations (with the Gilbert damping parameter) with allowance for all the main interactions, including the dipole–dipole one. The studies were carried out on magnetic soft films with an anisotropy axis lying in their plane in a dc magnetic field parallel to an easy axis and a pulsed magnetic field normal to it. New possibilities for controlling the nonlinear dynamic rearrangement of the internal structure of domain walls and their velocities in fields both above and below the critical field are established. The wall motion in the field above the critical one is nonstationary.     

Spin polarized current controlled dynamics of domain walls in magnetic films with in-plane anisotropy

We study the dynamic properties of asymmetric vortex Bloch walls and classical 1D Néel walls controlled by a spin-polarized current in magnetic films with in-plane anisotropy. It is shown that fairly high velocities of domain walls (up to 100 m/s) can be obtained for the current density in the range j = 10⁶–10⁸ A/cm². The nonlinear dependence of the wall velocity on the film thickness and the linear dependence of the velocity on the current density and inverse damping parameter are found.     

Direct observation of domain-wall configurations transformed by spin currents

Direct observations of current-induced domain-wall propagation by spin-polarized scanning electron microscopy are reported. Current pulses move head-to-head as well as tail-to-tail walls in submicrometer Fe20Ni80 wires in the direction of the electron flow, and a decay of the wall velocity with the number of injected current pulses is observed. High-resolution images of the domain walls reveal that the wall spin structure is transformed from a vortex to a transverse configuration with subsequent pulse injections. The change in spin structure is directly correlated with the decay of the velocity.     

Structure and dynamic properties of the twisted magnetic domain wall in an electric field

The structure of the domain wall in a magnetically uniaxial ferromagnetic film placed in an external electric field has been studied. It has been shown that the domain wall has a complex twisted structure whose characteristics (thickness, profile, and limit velocity of steady motion) depend on the film thickness, quality factor, and external electric field. The effect of the electric field on the domain wall is caused by inhomogeneous magnetoelectric coupling taking place in domain walls with a twisted structure.     

A multi-scale model of domain wall velocities based on ab initio parameters

A new approach is presented to evaluate the velocity of field-driven domain walls by means of ab initio parameters. This approach makes intensive use of multi-scaling by means of (a) mapping of domain wall formation energies obtained in terms of a fully relativistic method onto a Landau–Ginzburg-type expression, and (b) applying the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation to evaluate the time needed to move domain walls. In comparison with the “classical” expression for the domain wall velocity originally proposed by Landau and Lifshitz, according to which the velocity increases with increasing width of the domain wall, three different types of magnetic alloys, namely permalloy (Ni₈₅Fe₁₅), Co _x Ni_1?x and Co _x Pd_1?x , are analyzed. It is shown that the Landau–Lifshitz expression for the velocity seems to be valid whenever the slopes of the exchange and the anisotropy energy with respect to the concentration are either both increasing or both decreasing.