Images of a spin-torque-driven magnetic nano-oscillator

Phys Rev Lett. 2011 Apr 22;106(16):167202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.167202. Epub 2011 Apr 21.

Abstract

We present the first space- and time-resolved images of the spin-torque-induced steady-state oscillation of a magnetic vortex in a spin-valve nanostructure. We find that the vortex structure in a nanopillar is considerably more complicated than the 2D idealized structure often-assumed, which has important implications for the driving efficiency. The sense of the vortex gyration is uniquely determined by the vortex core polarity, confirming that the spin-torque acts as a source of negative damping even in such a strongly nonuniform magnetic system. The orbit radius is ∼10 nm, in agreement with micromagnetic simulations.