Domain wall motion driven by adiabatic spin transfer torque through excitation of nonlinear dynamics

Abstract

Domain wall dynamics under the joint action of a linearly polarized microwave magnetic field and spin transfer torque was analysed in terms of the domain wall collective coordinates. It was found that a microwave-assisted steady domain wall motion driven by adiabatic spin transfer torque can be adequately described by three domain wall collective coordinates. Analytical expression for the domain wall velocity showed that there are two contributions to the steady domain wall motion. One is derived from the nonlinear oscillation of domain wall width excited by the microwave field, and the other is from the heterodyne process between the width oscillation and the microwave field. The former always propels a domain wall to move in the positive direction, which is defined as the direction of the applied current. The latter contribution to the domain wall velocity can be positive or negative, depending on the polarization of the microwave field. The final domain wall velocity is determined by the competition between those two contributions, which indicates that by simply changing the polarization of the microwave field, the direction of the domain wall motion can be reversed. Our analysis demonstrated that the characteristics of domain wall motion can be tuned by selective excitation of nonlinear domain wall dynamics.