Journal: Scientific Reports

Article Title: Direct observation of deterministic domain wall trajectory in magnetic network structures

doi: 10.1038/srep19027

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( a ) Schematic of ‘U’ shaped branch structure showing the trajectory of clockwise (CW) vortex domain wall (VDW) along the upper branch and anticlockwise (ACW) VDW along the lower branch. ( b ) Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the ‘U-shaped’ branch structure shown in the middle used for studying field induced DW motion. Show on the left is the magnetic force microscopy (MFM) image of the initial magnetization configuration of an array of branch structures when the transverse nanowire and output branch are saturated along the − y and − x direction, respectively. Shown on the right of SEM is the final magnetization configuration of the array structure when a head-to-head clockwise (HH-CW) VDW is injected and driven. The results indicate that the DW selects the output branch randomly. ( c ) Micromagnetic simulations depicting the VDW motion along the + x direction in the branch structure at magnetic field strength of 65 Oe. The DW moves in opposite branches for the two field strengths. ( d ) Relative distribution of successful and failed trials when a DW is propagated in a symmetric structure. The success in a trial implies that the DW follows a selective trajectory governed by its initial chirality.

Article Snippet: The Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF) program developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology was used to perform the micromagnetic simulations.

Techniques: Electron Microscopy, Microscopy, Injection