Time-Resolved Observation Of Fast Domain-Walls Driven By Vertical Spin Currents In Short Tracks

We present time-resolved measurements of the displacement of magnetic domain-walls (DWs) driven by vertical spin-polarized currents in track-shaped magnetic tunnel junctions. In these structures, we observe very high DW velocities (600 m/s) at current densities below 10(7) A/cm(2). We show that the efficient spin-transfer torque combined with a short propagation distance allows avoiding the Walker breakdown process and achieving deterministic, reversible, and fast (approximate to 1 ns) DW-mediated switching of magnetic tunnel junction elements, which is of great interest for the implementation of fast DW-based spintronic devices. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.