Spin valves form a key building block in a wide range of spintronic concepts and devices from magnetoresistive read heads to spin-transfer-torque oscillators. We elucidate the dependence of the magnetic damping in the free layer on the angle its equilibrium magnetization makes with that in the fixed layer. The spin pumping-mediated damping is anisotropic and tensorial, with Gilbert- and Bloch-like terms. Our investigation reveals a mechanism for tuning the free layer damping in situ from negligible to a large value via the orientation of fixed layer magnetization, especially when the magnets are electrically insulating. Furthermore, we expect the Bloch contribution that emerges from the longitudinal spin accumulation in the nonmagnetic spacer to play an important role in a wide range of other phenomena in spin valves.

We report on spin-vortex pair dynamics measured at temperatures low enough to suppress stochastic core motion, thereby uncovering the highly nonlinear intrinsic dynamics of the system. Our analysis shows that the decoupling of the two vortex cores is resonant and can be enhanced by dynamic chaos. We detail the regions of the relevant parameter space, in which the various mechanisms of the resonant core-core dynamics are activated. We show that the presence of chaos can reduce the thermally induced spread in the decoupling time by up to two orders of magnitude.

Effects of magnetic asymmetry on strongly coupled spin-vortex pairs with parallel core polarization and antiparallel chirality in synthetic nanomagnets are investigated. This includes vortex-core length asymmetry, biasing field asymmetry, and pinning of one of the two vortex cores. Our experimental observations as well as analytical and micromagnetic modeling show how magnetic asymmetry can be used to differentiate magneto-resistively otherwise degenerate multiple stable states of a vortex pair. These results expand the knowledge base for spin vortex arrays in nanostructures and should be useful in light of the recent proposals on coding information into multiple topological spin states, such as single and multiple vortex core/chirality states.

Indirect exchange coupling in magnetic multilayers, also known as the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction, is highly effective in controlling the interlayer alignment of the magnetization. This coupling is typically fixed at the stage of the multilayer fabrication and does not allow ex situ control needed for device applications. In addition to the orientational control, it is highly desirable to also control the magnitude of the intralayer magnetization, ideally, being able to switch it on/off by switching the relevant RKKY coupling. Here we demonstrate a magnetic multilayer material incorporating thermally and field-controlled RKKY exchange, focused on a dilute ferromagnetic alloy layer and driving it though its Curie transition. Such on/off magnetization switching of a thin ferromagnet, performed repeatedly and fully reproducibly within a low-field sweep, results in a giant magnetocaloric effect, with an estimated isothermal entropy change of Delta S approximate to -10 mJ cm(-3) K(-1 )under an external field of similar to 10 mT, which greatly exceeds the performance of the best rare-earth based materials used in the adiabatic-demagnetization refrigeration systems.

Mechanisms of the recently demonstrated ex-situ thermal control of the indirect exchange coupling in magnetic multilayer are discussed for different designs of the spacer layer. Temperature-induced changes in the hysteresis of magnetization are shown to be associated with different types of competing interlayer exchange interactions. Theoretical analysis indicates that the measured step-like shape and hysteresis of the magnetization loops is due to local in-plane magnetic anisotropy of nano-crystallites within the strongly ferromagnetic films. Comparison of the experiment and theory is used to contrast the mechanisms of the magnetization switching based on the competition of (i) indirect (RKKY) and direct (non-RKKY) interlayer exchange interactions as well as (ii) indirect ferromagnetic and indirect antiferromagnetic (both of RKKY type) interlayer exchange. These results, detailing the rich magnetic phase space of the system, should help enable the practical use of RKKY for thermally switching the magnetization in magnetic multilayers.

Vortex pairs in magnetic nanopillars with strongly coupled cores and pinning of one of the cores by a morphological defect, are used to perform resonant pinning spectroscopy, in which a microwave excitation applied to the nanopillar produces pinning or depinning of the cores only when the excitation is in resonance with the rotational or gyrational eigenmodes of the specific initial state of the core-core pair. The shift in the eigenmode frequencies between the pinned and depinned states is determined experimentally and explained theoretically, and illustrates the potential for multicore spin-vortex memory with resonant writing of information onto various stable vortex pair states. Further, it is shown how the same resonant spectroscopy techniques applied to a vortex pair can be used as a sensitive nanoscale probe for characterizing morphological defects in magnetic films.

We demonstrate the strong tunability of the spin-pumping contribution to magnetic damping in a thin-film ferromagnetic free layer interfacing with a synthetic ferrimagnet (SFM), acting as a spin sink, via a thin Cu spacer. The effect strongly depends on the magnetic state of the SFM, a trilayer structure composed of two Fe layers coupled via indirect exchange mediated by a Cr spacer. With increasing Cr thickness, the SFM state undergoes a transition from an antiparallel configuration via a noncollinear configuration to a parallel configuration. We can explain the corresponding nonmonotonous dependence of spin relaxation in the free layer in terms of modulation of the longitudinal spin transport as well as relaxation of the transverse angular momentum in the SFM. The results should be useful for designing high-speed spintronic devices where tunability of spin relaxation is advantageous.

Spin vortices in magnetic nanopillars are used as GHz oscillators, with frequency however essentially fixed in fabrication. We demonstrate a model system of a two-vortex nanopillar, in which the resonance frequency can be changed by an order of magnitude, without using high dc magnetic fields. The effect is due to switching between the two stable states of the vortex pair, and we show that it can be done with low-amplitude fields of sub-ns duration. We detail the relevant vortex-core dynamics and explain how field anharmonicity and phase control can be used to enhance the performance.

We investigate switching of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) driven by the thermal effect of the transport current through the junctions. The switching occurs in a specially designed composite free layer, which acts as one of the MTJ electrodes, and is due to a current-driven ferro-to-paramagnetic Curie transition with the associated exchange decoupling within the free layer leading to magnetic reversal. We simulate the current and heat propagation through the device and show how heat focusing can be used to improve the power efficiency. The Curie-switch MTJ demonstrated in this work has the advantage of being highly tunable in terms of its operating temperature range, conveniently to or just above room temperature, which can be of technological significance and competitive with the known switching methods using spin-transfer torques.

In this work we focus on magnetic relaxation in Mn80Ir20(12 nm)/Cu(6 nm)/Py(dF) antiferromagnet/Cu/ferromagnet (AFM/Cu/FM) multilayers with different thickness of the ferromagnetic permalloy layer. An effective FM-AFM interaction mediated via the conduction electrons in the nonmagnetic Cu spacer - the spin-pumping effect - is detected as an increase in the linewidth of the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectra and a shift of the resonant magnetic field. We further find experimentally that the spin-pumping-induced contribution to the linewidth is inversely proportional to the thickness of the Py layer. We show that this thickness dependence likely originates from the dissipative dynamics of the free and localized spins in the AFM layer. The results obtained could be used for tailoring the dissipative properties of spintronic devices incorporating antiferromagnetic layers.