Thermally driven domain-wall motion in Fe on W(110)

Jonathan Chico, Corina Etz, Lars Bergqvist, Olle Eriksson, Jonas Fransson, Anna Delin, and Anders Bergman
Phys. Rev. B 90, 014434 – Published 28 July 2014

Abstract

It has recently been shown that domain walls (DWs) in ferromagnets can be moved in the presence of thermal gradients. In this work we study the motion of narrow domain walls in low-dimensional systems when subjected to thermal gradients. The system chosen is a monolayer of Fe on W(110) which is known to exhibit a large anisotropy while having a soft exchange, resulting in a very narrow domain wall. The study is performed by means of atomistic spin dynamics simulations coupled to first-principles calculations. By subjecting this system to thermal gradients we observe a temperature-dependent movement of the domain wall. The thermal gradient always makes the domain wall move towards the hotter region of the sample with a velocity proportional to the gradient. Our material specific study is complemented by model simulations to discern the interplay between the thermal gradient, magnetic anisotropy, and the exchange interaction and shows that the larger DW velocities are found for materials with broader domain-wall width. The relatively slow DW motion of the Fe/W(110) system is hence primarily caused by its narrow domain-wall width, which results from its large magnetic anisotropy and soft exchange.

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  • Received 28 June 2013
  • Revised 5 July 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.014434

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Jonathan Chico1, Corina Etz1, Lars Bergqvist2, Olle Eriksson1, Jonas Fransson1, Anna Delin1,2, and Anders Bergman1

  • 1Uppsala University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Materials Theory Division Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
  • 2KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Nano and Materials Physics Electrum 229, SE-164 40 Kista, Sweden

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Issue

Vol. 90, Iss. 1 — 1 July 2014

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