Temperature effect on vortex-core reversals in magnetic nanodots

Abstract

We studied the temperature effect on vortex-core reversals in soft magnetic nanodots by micromagnetic numerical calculations within a framework of the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert scheme. It was determined that vortex-core-switching events at non-zero temperatures occur stochastically, and that the threshold field strength increases with temperature for a given field frequency. The mechanism of core reversals at elevated temperatures is the same as that of vortex-antivortex-pair-mediated core reversals found at the zero temperature. The reversal criterion is also the out-of-plane component of a magnetization dip that should reach −p, which is to say, mz,dip = −p, where p is the original polarization, p = +1 (−1), for the upward (downward) core. By this criterion, the creation of a vortex-antivortex pair accompanies complete vortex-antivortex-annihilation-mediated core reversals, resulting in the maximum excess of the exchange energy density, ΔEexcri ≈ 15.4 ± 0.2 mJ/cm3. This work provides the underlying physics of vortex-core reversals at non-zero temperatures, and potentiates the real application of vortex random access memory operating at elevated temperatures.