0000000000420611
AUTHOR
Berthold Ocker
Modification of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya-Interaction-Stabilized Domain Wall Chirality by Driving Currents
We measure and analyze the chirality of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya-interaction (DMI) stabilized spin textures in multilayers of $\mathrm{Ta}|{\mathrm{Co}}_{20}{\mathrm{F}}_{60}{\mathrm{B}}_{20}|\mathrm{MgO}$. The effective DMI is measured experimentally using domain wall motion measurements, both in the presence (using spin-orbit torques) and absence of driving currents (using magnetic fields). We observe that the current-induced domain wall motion yields a change in effective DMI magnitude and opposite domain wall chirality when compared to field-induced domain wall motion (without current). We explore this effect, which we refer to as current-induced DMI, by providing possible explanations for…
Enhancing domain wall velocity through interface intermixing in W-CoFeB-MgO films with perpendicular anisotropy
We study the influence of He+ irradiation induced interface intermixing on magnetic domain wall (DW) dynamics in W-CoFeB (0.6 nm)-MgO ultrathin films, which exhibit high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and large Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) values. Whereas the pristine films exhibit strong DW pinning, we observe a large increase in the DW velocity in the creep regime upon He+ irradiation, which is attributed to the reduction of pinning centers induced by interface intermixing. Asymmetric in-plane field-driven domain expansion experiments show that the DMI value is slightly reduced upon irradiation, and a direct relationship between DMI and interface anisotropy is demonstrated. …
Spin–orbit torque driven multi-level switching in He + irradiated W–CoFeB–MgO Hall bars with perpendicular anisotropy
We have investigated the spin–orbit torque-driven magnetization switching in W/CoFeB/MgO Hall bars with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. He+ ion irradiation through a mask has been used to reduce locally the effective perpendicular anisotropy at a Hall cross. Anomalous Hall effect measurements combined with Kerr microscopy indicate that the switching process is dominated by domain wall (DW) nucleation in the irradiated region followed by rapid domain propagation at a current density as low as 0.8 MA/cm2 with an assisting in-plane magnetic field. Thanks to the implemented strong pinning of the DW at the transition between the irradiated and the non-irradiated region, an intermediate Hall r…
Effective field analysis using the full angular spin-orbit torque magnetometry dependence
Spin-orbit torques promise ultra-efficient magnetization switching used for advanced devices based on emergent quasi-particles such as domain walls and skyrmions. Recently, the spin structure dynamics, materials and systems with tailored spin-orbit torques are being developed. A method, which allows one to detect the acting torques in a given system as a function of the magnetization direction is the torque-magnetometry method based on a higher harmonics analysis of the anomalous Hall-effect. Here we show that the effective fields acting on magnetic domain walls that govern the efficiency of their dynamics require a sophisticated analysis taking into account the full angular dependence of t…
Tuning of interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and domain structures in magnetic thin film multilayers
We investigate the magnetic domain structures and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) arising in CoFeB films interfaced with selected heavy metal (HM) layers with large spin Hall angles in HM/CoFeB/MgO (HM = W, Pt, Pd, W x Ta1−x ) stacks as a function of CoFeB thickness and composition for both as-deposited and annealed materials stacks. The coercivity and the anisotropy fields of annealed material stacks are higher than for the as-deposited stacks due to crystallisation of the ferromagnetic layer. Generally a critical thickness of MgO > 1 nm provides adequate oxide formation at the top interface as a requirement for the generation of PMA. We demonstrate that in stacks with Pt as th…
Role of B diffusion in the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction inTa/Co20Fe60B20/MgOnanowires
We report on current-induced domain wall motion in $\mathrm{Ta}/\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{o}}_{20}\mathrm{F}{\mathrm{e}}_{60}{\mathrm{B}}_{20}/\mathrm{MgO}$ nanowires. Domain walls are observed to move against the electron flow when no magnetic field is applied, while a field along the nanowires strongly affects the domain wall motion velocity. A symmetric effect is observed for up-down and down-up domain walls. This indicates the presence of right-handed domain walls, due to a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) with a DMI coefficient $D=+0.06\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mJ}/{\mathrm{m}}^{2}$. The positive DMI coefficient is interpreted to be a consequence of B diffusion into the Ta bu…