Tuning the dynamics of magnetic droplet solitons using dipolar interactions

Abstract

Magnetic droplets are dissipative magnetodynamical solitons that can form under current driven nanocontacts in magnetic layers with large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Here, we extend the original droplet theory by studying the impact of the dipolar interactions on the dynamics of droplet solitons. By varying the thickness of the free layer of a spin torque nano-oscillator, we systematically tune the internal field of the free layer to investigate the dynamics of droplet solitons. Our numerical results show that increasing the free layer thickness increases the droplet threshold current, decreases the droplet frequency and diameter, enlarges the current hysteresis and also modifies the structure of the droplet. The Oersted field of the current breaks the phase coherency and deteriorates the stability of the droplet in free layers with larger thicknesses. Moreover, our findings show a simple relation to determine the impact of the free layer thickness on the droplet nucleation boundaries. Our study presents the missing brick on the physics behind magnetic droplet solitons, and further illustrates that magnetic droplets in thinner layers possess more promising characteristics for spintronic applications and enable devices with higher speed of operation.