Adhikari, A., Gilroy, E.R., Hayward, T.J. et al. (1 more author) (2021) Surface acoustic wave assisted depinning of magnetic domain walls. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 33 (31). 31LT01. ISSN 0953-8984
Abstract
We investigate the effects of high frequency strain on the depinning of magnetic domain walls in perpendicular anisotropy materials. Micron wide stripes of [Co(0.3 nm)/Pt(0.6 nm)]5 are patterned between a pair of identical inter-digital transducers that generate high frequency (114.8 MHz) standing surface acoustic waves. We use magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy to characterize the thermally-assisted depinning of domain walls at defect sites within the strips. Our results show that the excitation of the domain walls with surface acoustic waves results in an increase in their depinning probabilities by approximately a factor of 10. Our data are consistent with a model in which the magnetoelastic anisotropies induced by the acoustic waves modulate the energy barriers that pin the domain walls. These results suggest an alternative route to domain wall depinning in thin films and nanostructures and are relevant to the development of racetrack memories, where domain wall pinning can result in reduced velocities and non-deterministic motion.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | surface acoustic wave; magnetic domain wall; magnetostriction; depinning |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/T018399/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Jun 2021 13:20 |
Last Modified: | 14 Jun 2022 23:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | IOP Publishing |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/1361-648x/ac02e4 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:175435 |
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