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Observation of the intrinsic pinning of a magnetic domain wall in a ferromagnetic nanowire

Nature Materials volume 10, pages 194–197 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

The spin transfer torque is essential for electrical magnetization switching1,2. When a magnetic domain wall is driven by an electric current through an adiabatic spin torque, the theory predicts a threshold current even for a perfect wire without any extrinsic pinning3. The experimental confirmation of this ‘intrinsic pinning’, however, has long been missing. Here, we give evidence that this intrinsic pinning determines the threshold, and thus that the adiabatic spin torque dominates the domain wall motion in a perpendicularly magnetized Co/Ni nanowire. The intrinsic nature manifests itself both in the field-independent threshold current and in the presence of its minimum on tuning the wire width. The demonstrated domain wall motion purely due to the adiabatic spin torque will serve to achieve robust operation and low energy consumption in spintronic devices5,6,7,8.

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Figure 1: Intrinsic pinning of magnetic domain wall and device structure.
Figure 2: Domain wall depinning induced by field and current.
Figure 3: Wire width dependence of threshold current density.
Figure 4: External magnetic field dependence of threshold current density.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Kasai and H. Kohno for useful discussions. This work was partly supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Spintronics Nonvolatile Devices project and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan

    T. Koyama, D. Chiba, K. Ueda, K. Kondou, K. Kobayashi & T. Ono

  2. PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 322-0012, Japan

    D. Chiba

  3. NEC Corporation, 1120 Shimokuzawa, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-1198, Japan

    H. Tanigawa, S. Fukami, T. Suzuki, N. Ohshima & N. Ishiwata

  4. University of Electro-communications, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan

    Y. Nakatani

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  1. T. Koyama
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Contributions

S.F., T.S., N.O., and N.I. supplied the Co/Ni multilayer films. T.K. fabricated the device. D.C. set up measurement apparatus. T.K., D.C., K.U., K. Kondou, and H.T. collected and analysed all data. Y.N. performed the simulations. D.C., K. Kobayashi, and T.O. planned and supervised the study. T.K., D.C., K. Kobayashi, and T.O. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results.

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Correspondence to T. Ono.

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Koyama, T., Chiba, D., Ueda, K. et al. Observation of the intrinsic pinning of a magnetic domain wall in a ferromagnetic nanowire. Nature Mater 10, 194–197 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2961

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