Domain-wall motion at an ultrahigh speed driven by spin–orbit torque in synthetic antiferromagnets

Abstract

In this article, we present our numerical investigation about the spin–orbit-torque induced domain-wall (DW) motion in a synthetic antiferromagnetic multilayer nanotrack. This nanotrack was composed by two ferromagnetic (FM) layers with a RKKY inter-layer antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange coupling. The velocity of DW was well manipulated by varying parameters including inter-layer exchange constant, the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) strength, the current density and the magnetic anisotropy. The DW velocity was found to be strictly related to the orientation of the moments in the two FM layers. When the interlayer exchange constant or the DMI constant were larger than a critical value, there was a large angle between the moments in one FM layer and that in the other one under the current, and the DW was driven to move at an ultrahigh speed (around 10 000 m s−1). However, when the DMI or the AFM exchange coupling was weaker than the critical value, the moments in one FM layer were parallel to that in the other one under the current, and the velocity was significantly reduced.