Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 17: Spin Dynamics / Spin Torque II
MA 17.10: Talk
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 16:45–17:00, H10
Ion-milled permalloy nanowires sputtered on heated substrates for current-induced domain-wall depinning — •Gesche Nahrwold1, Sedat Dogan1, Lars Bocklage1, Toru Matsuyama1, Guido Meier1, Ulrich Merkt1, Kouta Kondou2, Gen Yamada2, and Teruo Ono2 — 1Institut für Angewandte Physik, Jungiusstr. 11, 20355 Hamburg — 2Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
Current-induced domain-wall motion is a subject of wide interest, most prominently represented by the race-track memory invented by S. Parkin [1]. In order to investigate reliable devices it is crucial to optimize the material properties of permalloy [2], which is commonly used for the fabrication of nanowires for domain-wall depinning. By sputtering permalloy on heated substrates the specific resistance is significantly decreased while keeping other relevant characteristics, such as crystal structure, magnetic properties, crystallite size, and material composition at desired levels. For sample preparation with this material a subtractive process is needed as due to the high temperatures during deposition lift-off is impossible. We have fabricated curved wires by subtractive ion-milling of permalloy films sputtered on substrates heated to 300 ∘C. Current-induced domain-wall experiments yield low depinning fields and a reliable depinning process. [1] S. S. P. Parkin et al., Science 320, 190 (2008), [2] G. Nahrwold et al., J. Appl. Phys. 105, 07D511 (2009)