Magnetic head-to-head domain walls have recently become the focus of intense research and rather than using conventional field-induced reversal, a promising approach for switching magnetic nanostructures is current-induced domain wall motion (CIDM), where due to a spin torque effect, electrons transfer angular momentum and thereby push a domain wall [1-4]. Since this interaction is strongly dependent on the wall spin structure, we have employed primarily X-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy (XMCD-PEEM) to image such domain walls in NiFe wire nanostructures and correlate the above mentioned effects with the imaged spin structure [1-4]. By high resolution imaging of the wall spin structures we have been able to directly probe the energy barrier separating the wall types [5,6].
In addition to wall movement, changes in the wall spin structure have been predicted [2], and we have recently observed such wall type transformations using PEEM [3] and found that the velocity depends strongly on the wall type and the transformations occurring [3].
In addition to moving domain walls in wires, vortex cores in disc elements have been studied, since their movement allows for a direct measurement of the non-adiabaticity of the transport. Due to the high magnetization gradients, larger non-adiabatic contributions to the transport are expected compared to the transport across wide domain walls with low gradients [7].
1. M. Kläui et al., PRL 94, 106601 (2005); A. Yamaguchi et al., PRL 92, 77205 (2004).
2. A. Thiaville et al., EPL 69, 990 (2005).
3. M. Klaui et al., APL 88, 232507 (2006); F. Junginger et al., APL 90, 132506 (2007).
4. M. Laufenberg et al., PRL 97, 46602 (2006).
5. M. Kläui et al., APL 85, 5637 (2004); M. Laufenberg et al., APL 88, 52507 (2006).
6. M. Laufenberg et al., APL 88, 212510 (2006); M. Kläui et al., APL 86, 32504 (2005).
7. J. Xiao et al., PRB 73, 54428 (2006).

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1. Magnetyczna spektroskopia i spektro-mikroskopia na materiałach spintronicznych
2. On the spin reorientation of Co/Au based magnetic nano-dot arrays.
3. Spin structures in micro-patterned highly spin-polarized materials