Pinned domain wall oscillator as tunable direct current spin wave emitter

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a new, low-power method to generate tunable high-frequency spin waves using a pinned domain wall in a magnetic strip, with potential applications in spin-based information technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach for excitation of coherent short wavelength spin waves via a direct current in a pinned domain wall, avoiding traditional Oersted field methods.

Findings

Spin waves are emitted unidirectionally in a thin magnetic strip with a pinned domain wall.

Emission frequency is related to the domain wall rotation harmonic, controllable by current.

External magnetic fields can modulate the directionality and frequency of spin wave emission.

Abstract

Spin waves are perturbations in the relative orientation of magnetic moments in a continuous magnetic system, which have been proposed as a new kind of information carrier for spin-based low power applications. For this purpose, a major obstacle to overcome is the energy-efficient excitation of coherent short wavelength spin waves and alternatives to excitation via the Oersted field of an alternating current need to be explored. Here we show, by means of micromagnetic simulations, how, in a perpendicularly magnetized thin strip, a domain wall pinned at a geometrical constriction emits spin waves when forced to rotate by the application of a low direct current flowing along the strip. Spin waves propagate only in the direction of the electron's flow at the first odd harmonic of the domain wall rotation frequency for which propagation is allowed. Excitation is due to in-plane dipolar stray field of the rotating domain wall and that the resulting unidirectionality is a consequence of the domain wall displacement at the constriction. On the other hand, the application of an external field opposing domain wall depinning breaks the symmetry for spin wave propagation in the two domains, allowing emission in both directions but at different frequencies. The results presented define a new approach to produce tunable high frequency spin wave emitters of easy fabrication and low power consumption.