Spin-transfer torque magnetization reversal in uniaxial nanomagnets with thermal noise

Abstract

We consider the general Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) dynamical theory underlying the magnetization switching rates of a thin film uniaxial magnet subject to spin-torque effects and thermal fluctuations. After discussing the various dynamical regimes governing the switching phenomena, we present analytical results for the mean switching time behavior. Our approach, based on explicitly solving the first passage time problem, allows for a straightforward analysis of the thermally assisted, low spin-torque, switching asymptotics of thin film magnets. To verify our theory, we have developed an efficient Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-based micromagnetic code to simulate the stochastic LLG dynamics out to millisecond timescales. We explore the effects of geometrical tilts between the spin-current and uniaxial anisotropy axes on the thermally assisted dynamics. We find that even in the absence of axial symmetry, the switching times can be functionally described in a form virtually identical to the collinear case.