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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Dynamics of domain walls in ultrathin magnetic films

The domain walls in ultrathin ferromagnetic films with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy are investigated theoretically. It is shown that taking account of the magnetodipole and magnetoelastic interactions leads to the appearance of an effective anisotropy with respect to the direction of the normal to the plane of the wall. The existence of a new type of domain walls—“corner” walls, at which the magnetization vector is rotated in the plane making a certain angle, which depends on the film parameters, with the plane of the domain wall and the static and dynamic properties of these walls are investigated. The dependence of the limiting velocity of the domain walls on the film thickness is found. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1476–1489 (October 1997)     

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.     

The use of surface charging in the SEM for lithium niobate domain structure investigation

The different lithium niobate crystals with opposite domain structure (ODLN) were studied in the SEM using e-beam negative surface charging. In the ODLN the polarization vector Ps alternates periodically "tail-to-tail" and "head-to-head" and arranges perpendicular to the domain boundaries. In the investigation we have used congruent LiNbO(3) crystals (CLN) and Cr(2)O(3)- and In(2)O(3)-doped LN with the ODLN structure. Initial surface potential images in secondary electron (SE) mode and charge accumulation on the Y-cut surfaces of different LiNbO(3) crystals were compared. The initial surface potential relief in ODLN was found to depend on the position of "tail-to-tail" and "head-to-head" domain walls in the structure. In the doped LN with the periodical domain structure formed during the growth process, the surface potential changes near the domain walls are much weaker than in the structures of CLN obtained by the aftergrowth thermoelectrical treatment technique. A well-defined SE image of "tail-to-tail" domain walls was observed upon special surface negative charging in all types of investigated LN crystals. The negative surface charging in the "tail-to-tail" domain wall areas proceeded slower and the SE exit from these areas decreased as compared to other crystal areas. The charging conditions for the domain wall observation in all samples were comparatively analyzed. The width and uniformity along the boundary images were different and correlated with doping in the crystals. The formation of different charge images could be explained by a variety of positive point defect distributions near the "tail-to-tail" domain walls in different LN crystals. The defects and doping ions screen polarization charges in the "tail-to-tail" wall area and can influence recombination rates of charges induced by an electron beam. Therefore, these domain wall areas are charged much weaker at negative surface charging than other domain areas. This SEM approach could afford a possibility to compare the distribution of the defects that screen the polarization charges and accumulate near the ferroelectric domain wall areas in LN crystals.     

Dynamics of vortexlike domain walls in triaxial magnetic films with the Goss orientation of the surface

The stationary dynamics of vortexlike domain walls in films with three magnetic axes and Goss orientation of the surface is studied for the first time with a micromagnetic method that exactly takes into account all basic types of interaction (including dipole-dipole interaction). Consideration is carried out using a 2D model of magnetization distribution by numerically solving Landau and Lifshitz’s nonlinear equations with attenuation in the Gilbert form. Dynamic configurations of domain walls are established, and the dependences of the domain wall velocity on an applied magnetic field, damping parameter, and magnetic film thickness are found.     

Quantum mechanics of the early universe

Quantum tunneling of the universe from nothing into a de Sitter vacuum, interpreted as the birth of the universe from a vacuum, is considered. Vilenkin's results are generalized by allowing for strings, domain walls, and various kinds of compressed matter that contribute to the potential through which the tunneling occurs. The energy spectrum of the universe in the quantum pre-de Sitter stage, the coefficient of passage through the potential barrier, which describes the probability of birth of the universe, and the conditions of applicability of the quasi-classical approximation in the calculation of these quantities are found.Brainstorm MNTP, Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 4, pp. 78–82, April, 1995.     

Mechanism of the motion of domain walls with spin wave radiation in uniaxial magnetic films

It is shown, using the example of epitaxial ferrite—garnet films with (111) orientation whose dimensionless damping parameter was varied over a wide range, that for uniaxial magnetic films the mechanism of the motion of the domain walls is universal and includes local rotation of the magnetization ahead of the moving domain wall. The threshold field for the transition to this mechanism of motion of the domain walls is proportional to the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy field. On the curve of the dependence of the domain wall velocity on the acting magnetic field, this mechanism corresponds to the section with increased differential mobility of the domain walls. Magnitooptoelktronika Joint Self-Financing Laboratory, N. R. Ogarev Institute of General Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Mordovian State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 7, pp. 9–14, July, 1997.     

Role of anisotropy on the domain wall properties of ferromagnetic nanotubes

In this paper we investigate the role of magneto-crystalline anisotropy on the domain wall (DW) properties of tubular magnetic nanostructures. Based on a theoretical model and micromagnetic simulations, we show that either cubic or uniaxial magneto-crystalline anisotropies have some influence on the domain wall properties (wall size, propagation velocity and energy barrier) and then on the overall magnetization reversal mechanism. Besides the characterization of the transverse and vortex domain wall sizes for different anisotropies, we predict an anisotropy dependent transition between the occurrence of transverse and vortex domain walls in tubular nanowires. We also discuss the dynamics of the vortex DW propagation gradually increasing the uniaxial anisotropy constant and we found that the average velocity is considerably reduced. Our results show that different anisotropies can be considered in real samples in order to manipulate the domain wall behavior and the magnetization reversal process.     

Domain wall resistance in perpendicular (Ga,Mn)As: Dependence on pinning

We have investigated the domain wall resistance for two types of domain walls in a (Ga,Mn)As Hall bar with perpendicular magnetization. A sizeable positive intrinsic DWR is inferred for domain walls that are pinned at an etching step, which is quite consistent with earlier observations. However, much lower intrinsic domain wall resistance is obtained when domain walls are formed by pinning lines in unetched material. This indicates that the spin transport across a domain wall is strongly influenced by the nature of the pinning.     

Minimization of Ohmic losses for domain wall motion in a ferromagnetic nanowire

We study current-induced domain-wall motion in a narrow ferromagnetic wire. We propose a way to move domain walls with a resonant time-dependent current which dramatically decreases the Ohmic losses in the wire and allows driving of the domain wall with higher speed without burning the wire. For any domain-wall velocity we find the time dependence of the current needed to minimize the Ohmic losses. Below a critical domain-wall velocity specified by the parameters of the wire the minimal Ohmic losses are achieved by dc current. Furthermore, we identify the wire parameters for which the losses reduction from its dc value is the most dramatic.     

Contribution to the theory of the Barkhausen power spectra of amorphous ferromagnets

The influence of the finite velocity of domain wall on the shape of the power spectra of Barkhausen noise is analysed. It is shown that the power spectrum is significantly influenced by the dynamical properties of domain walls.Dedicated to Academician Vladimír Hajko on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Dynamics of interphase domain walls during a Morin-type phase transition

The dynamics of 90-degree interphase domain walls during a first-order Morin-type spin-reorientation phase transition is studied theoretically. It is shown that an oscillatory motion of the walls with an amplitude that depends linearly on the field amplitude, as well as a drift motion of the wall at a velocity proportional to the square of the field amplitude, are driven by an external oscillating magnetic field. Drift of the entire domain structure as a whole is predicted to be possible. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 274–282 (February 1999)