A robust soliton ratchet using combined antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interlayer couplings

Mansell, R., Lavrijsen, R., Fernandez-Pacheco, A. , Petit, D.C.M.C., Lee, J.H., Koopmans, B., Swagten, H.J.M. and Cowburn, R.P. (2015) A robust soliton ratchet using combined antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interlayer couplings. Applied Physics Letters, 106, 092404. (doi: 10.1063/1.4914014)

Abstract

A sharp magnetic soliton can be created and propagated in a vertical ratchet structure based on magnetic layers with out-of-plane anisotropy using a combination of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interlayer couplings. This allows the use of identical magnetic layers in the stack, which simplifies the implementation of the ratchet compared to schemes which use alternating layer thicknesses. The ratchet behavior is analyzed using an Ising-macrospin approximation and conditions are derived for the propagation of a soliton, which is demonstrated experimentally. Values extracted from the experimental data for the coercivities and interlayer couplings show significant variation, which demonstrates the robustness of the soliton propagation.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was funded by the European Community under the Seventh Framework Program ERC Contract No. 247368: 3SPIN. R.L. acknowledges support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (VENI 68047428). A.F.-P. acknowledges an EPSRC Early Career fellowship and support from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Fernandez-Pacheco, Dr Amalio
• Authors: Mansell, R., Lavrijsen, R., Fernandez-Pacheco, A., Petit, D.C.M.C., Lee, J.H., Koopmans, B., Swagten, H.J.M., and Cowburn, R.P.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters
• Publisher: AIP Publishing
• ISSN: 0003-6951
• ISSN (Online): 1077-3118