Magnetic domain wall propagation in a submicron spin-valve stripe: influence of the pinned layer

Abstract

The propagation of a domain wall in a submicron ferromagnetic spin-valve stripe is investigated using giant magnetoresistance. A notch in the stripe efficiently traps an injected wall stopping the domain propagation. The authors show that the magnetic field at which the wall is depinned displays a stochastic nature. Moreover, the depinning statistics are significantly different for head to head and tail-to-tail domain walls. This is attributed to the dipolar field generated in the vicinity of the notch by the pinned layer of the spin-valve.

References in corpus (4)

• Real-space observation of current-driven domain wall motion in submicron magnetic wires
• Direct observation of domain-wall configurations transformed by spin currents
• Switching the magnetic configuration of a spin valve by current induced domain wall motion
• Detecting domain wall trapping and motion at a constriction in narrow ferromagnetic wires using perpendicular-current giant magnetoresistance

Cited by in corpus (4)

• FORC and Micromagnetism Approach to the Domain Structure of Cobalt Antidot Arrays
• 360 degree domain wall generation in the soft layer of magnetic tunnel junctions
• Spatially periodic domain wall pinning potentials: Asymmetric pinning and dipolar biasing
• Coupling and induced depinning of magnetic domain walls in adjacent spin valve nanotracks