Temperature dependent nucleation, propagation, and annihilation of domain walls in all-perpendicular spin-valve nanopillars

D. B. Gopman, D. Bedau, S. Mangin, E. E. Fullerton, J. A. Katine, A. D. Kent

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    We present a study of the temperature dependence of the switching fields in Co/Ni-based perpendicularly magnetized spin-valves. While magnetization reversal of all-perpendicular Co/Ni spin valves at ambient temperatures is typically marked by a single sharp step change in resistance, low temperature measurements can reveal a series of resistance steps, consistent with non-uniform magnetization configurations. We propose a model that consists of domain nucleation, propagation, and annihilation to explain the temperature dependence of the switching fields. Interestingly, low temperature (<30K) step changes in resistance that we associate with domain nucleation have a bimodal switching field and resistance step distribution, attributable to two competing nucleation pathways.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number113910
    JournalJournal of Applied Physics
    Volume115
    Issue number11
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Mar 21 2014

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Physics and Astronomy(all)

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