Fast barrier-free switching in synthetic antiferromagnets

Abstract

We analytically solve the Landau-Lifshitz equations for the collective magnetization dynamics in a synthetic antiferromagnet (SAF) nanoparticle and uncover a regime of barrier-free switching under a short small-amplitude magnetic field pulse applied perpendicular to the SAF plane. We give examples of specific implementations for forming such low-power and ultra-fast switching pulses. For fully optical, resonant, barrier-free SAF switching we estimate the power per write operation to be $\sim 100$ pJ, 10-100 times smaller than for conventional quasi-static rotation, which should be attractive for memory applications.

12 pages, 4 figures