Abstract
We have obtained microscopic evidence of the influence of domain wall stray fields on the nanosecond magnetization switching in magnetic trilayer systems. The nucleation barrier initiating the magnetic switching of the soft magnetic layer in magnetic tunnel junctionlike trilayers is considerably lowered by stray fields generated by domain walls present in the hard magnetic Co layer. This internal bias field can significantly increase the local switching speed of the soft layer. The effect is made visible using nanosecond time- and layer-resolved magnetic domain imaging and confirmed by micromagnetic simulations.
- Received 27 October 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.72.220402
©2005 American Physical Society
