Current driven switching of magnetic layers
Abstract
The switching of magnetic layers is studied under the action of a spin current in a ferromagnetic metal/non-magnetic metal/ferromagnetic metal spin valve. We find that the main contribution to the switching comes from the non-equilibrium exchange interaction between the ferromagnetic layers. This interaction defines the magnetic configuration of the layers with minimum energy and establishes the threshold for a critical switching current. Depending on the direction of the critical current, the interaction changes sign and a given magnetic configuration becomes unstable. To model the time dependence of the switching process, we derive a set of coupled Landau-Lifshitz equations for the ferromagnetic layers. Higher order terms in the non-equilibrium exchange coupling allow the system to evolve to its steady-state configuration.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0005064,
title = {Current driven switching of magnetic layers},
author = {C. Heide and P. E. Zilberman and R. J. Elliott},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0005064},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
8 pages, 2 figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B