Recent developments in the controlled movement of domain walls in magnetic nanowires by short pulses of spin-polarized current give promise of a nonvolatile memory device with the high performance and reliability of conventional solid-state memory but at the low cost of conventional magnetic disk drive storage. The racetrack memory described in this review comprises an array of magnetic nanowires arranged horizontally or vertically on a silicon chip. Individual spintronic reading and writing nanodevices are used to modify or read a train of ∼10 to 100 domain walls, which store a series of data bits in each nanowire. This racetrack memory is an example of the move toward innately three-dimensional microelectronic devices.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/320/5873/190.full.pdf

Magnetic Domain-Wall Racetrack Memory

Electrons have a charge and a spin, but until recently these were considered separately. In classical electronics, charges are moved by electric fields to transmit information and are stored in a capacitor to save it. In magnetic recording, magnetic fields have been used to read or write the information stored on the magnetization, which 'measures' the local orientation of spins in ferromagnets. The picture started to change in 1988, when the discovery of giant magnetoresistance opened the way to efficient control of charge transport through magnetization. The recent expansion of hard-disk recording owes much to this development. We are starting to see a new paradigm where magnetization dynamics and charge currents act on each other in nanostructured artificial materials. Ultimately, 'spin currents' could even replace charge currents for the transfer and treatment of information, allowing faster, low-energy operations: spin electronics is on its way.

/pdf/the-emergence-of-spin-electronics-in-data-storage-1vrnm5549k.pdf

The emergence of spin electronics in data storage

The mutual dependence of spin-dependent conduction and magnetization dynamics of ferromagnets provides the key mechanisms in various spin-dependent phenomena. We compute the response of the conduction electron spins in a spatial and time varying magnetization M(r,t) in the time-dependent semiclassical transport theory. We show that the induced nonequilibrium conduction spin density in turn generates four spin torques acting on the magnetization-with each torque playing a different role in magnetization dynamics. By comparing with recent theoretical models, we find that one of these torques which has not been previously identified is crucial to consistently interpreting experimental data on domain wall motion.

Roles of nonequilibrium conduction electrons on the magnetization dynamics of ferromagnets.

The magnetization of a magnetic material can be reversed by using electric currents that transport spin angular momentum. In the reciprocal process a changing magnetization orientation produces currents that transport spin angular momentum. Understanding how these processes occur reveals the intricate connection between magnetization and spin transport, and can transform technologies that generate, store or process information via the magnetization direction. Here we explain how currents can generate torques that affect the magnetic orientation and the reciprocal effect in a wide variety of magnetic materials and structures. We also discuss recent state-of-the-art demonstrations of current-induced torque devices that show great promise for enhancing the functionality of semiconductor devices.

https://physics.nyu.edu/kentlab/Papers/2012/NatureMaterials_11_372_2012.pdf

Current-induced torques in magnetic materials

In order to explain recent experiments reporting a motion of magnetic domain walls (DW) in nanowires carrying a current, we propose a modification of the spin transfer torque term in the Landau-Lifchitz-Gilbert equation. We show that it explains, with reasonable parameters, the measured DW velocities as well as the variation of DW propagation field under current. We also introduce coercivity by considering rough wires. This leads to a finite DW propagation field and finite threshold current for DW propagation, hence we conclude that threshold currents are extrinsic. Some possible models that support this new term are discussed.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1209/epl/i2004-10452-6/pdf

Micromagnetic understanding of current-driven domain wall motion in patterned nanowires

We report direct observation of current-driven magnetic domain wall (DW) displacement by using a well-defined single DW in a microfabricated magnetic wire with submicron width. Magnetic force microscopy visualizes that a single DW introduced in a wire is displaced back and forth by positive and negative pulsed current, respectively. The direct observation gives quantitative information on the DW displacement as a function of the intensity and the duration of the pulsed current. The result is discussed in terms of the spin-transfer mechanism.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/cond-mat/0309124.pdf

Real-Space Observation of Current-Driven Domain Wall Motion in Submicron Magnetic Wires

It was found that high current density needed for the current-driven domain wall motion results in the Joule heating of the sample. The sample temperature, when the current-driven domain wall motion occurred, was estimated by measuring the sample resistance during the application of a pulsed current. The sample temperature was 750 K for the threshold current density of 6.7×1011A∕m2 in a 10-nm-thick Ni81Fe19 wire with a width of 240 nm on thermally oxidized silicon substrate. The temperature was raised to 830 K for the current density of 7.5×1011A∕m2, which is very close to the Curie temperature of bulk Ni81Fe19. When the current density exceeded 7.5×1011A∕m2, an appearance of a multidomain structure in the wire was observed by magnetic force microscopy, suggesting that the sample temperature exceeded the Curie temperature.

Effect of Joule heating in current-driven domain wall motion

Erratum: Real-Space Observation of Current-Driven Domain Wall Motion in Submicron Magnetic Wires [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 , 077205 (2004)]

It was found that high current density needed for the current-driven domain wall motion results in the Joule heating of the sample. The sample temperature, when the current-driven domain wall motion occurred, was estimated by measuring the sample resistance during the application of a pulsed-current. The sample temperature was 750 K for the threshold current density of 6.7 x 10^11 A/m2 in a 10 nm-thick Ni81Fe19 wire with a width of 240 nm. The temperature was raised to 830 K for the current density of 7.5 x 10^11 A/m2, which is very close to the Curie temperature of bulk Ni81Fe19. When the current density exceeded 7.5 x 10^11 A/m2, an appearance of a multi-domain structure in the wire was observed by magnetic force microscopy, suggesting that the sample temperature exceeded the Curie temperature.

The authors report the rectification of a constant wave radio frequency (rf) current by using a single-layer magnetic nanowire; a direct-current voltage is resonantly generated when the rf current flows through the nanowire. The mechanism of the rectification is discussed in terms of the spin-torque diode effect reported for magnetic tunnel junction devices, and the rectification is shown to be directly attributable to resonant spin wave excitation by the rf current.

Akinobu Yamaguchi

Papers

Real-Space Observation of Current-Driven Domain Wall Motion in Submicron Magnetic Wires

Effect of Joule heating in current-driven domain wall motion

Erratum: Real-Space Observation of Current-Driven Domain Wall Motion in Submicron Magnetic Wires [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 , 077205 (2004)]

Effect of Joule heating in current-driven domain wall motion

Rectification of radio frequency current in ferromagnetic nanowire