Understanding curvature effects on the magnetization reversal of patterned permalloy Archimedean spirals

Abstract

Geometric curvature in magnetic systems can induce several unique magnetic interactions, the most notable of which are the curvature induced magnetic anisotropy and the curvature introduced Dzyaloshinski–Moria (DM) like interaction. Of the two, the DM-like interaction is particularly interesting as it provides a unique way to control domain wall motion, which is particularly relevant to the field of spintronics. In this work, we study the effect of geometric curvature on magnetization reversal in Permalloy strips patterned into Archimedean spirals with varying widths. We simulated the magnetization reversal of Permalloy strips for several widths ranging from microscale to nanoscale to determine a lengthscale at which the curvature effects are strong. Simulations showed that in the microscale spirals, magnetization reversal primarily occurs through the appearance of magnetization ripple in which domains with reversed magnetization nucleate. On the other hand, the nanoscale spirals showed that reversal primarily proceeded through the motion of domain walls into the arms of the spiral. Our experimental in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy data of the microscale spirals, however, showed that magnetization reversal occurred with both mechanisms. At the nanoscale, the effect of local variation of curvature leads to hysteresis loops with stepped behavior. This behavior is characteristic of the curvature induced DM-like interaction affecting domain wall motion in the arms of the nanoscale spirals.