Double nanocontact (NC) spin transfer vortex oscillator devices, in which NCs of 100-nm diameter have center-to-center separation ranging from 200 to 1100 nm, have been studied by means of electrical measurements and time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy (TRSKM). The NCs were positioned close to the edge of the top electrical contact so that the magnetization dynamics of the adjacent region could be probed optically. The electrical measurements showed different ranges of frequency operation for devices with different NC separations. For 900-nm NC separation, TRSKM showed magnetic contrast consistent with the formation of a magnetic vortex at each NC, while for 200-nm NC separation a lack of magnetic contrast near the NC region suggests that the magnetization dynamics occur closer to the NC and underneath the top contact. TRSKM also reveals the presence of additional localized dynamical features far from the NCs, which are not seen by electrical measurements; has not been reported previously for double NCs with different separations; and provides insight into how the dynamic state of the phase-locked oscillators is established and stabilized.

A dissipative magnetic soliton, or magnetic droplet, is a structure that has been predicted to exist within a thin magnetic layer when non-linearity is balanced by dispersion, and a driving force counteracts the inherent damping of the spin precession. Such a soliton can be formed beneath a nano-contact (NC) that delivers a large spin-polarized current density into a magnetic layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Although the existence of droplets has been confirmed from electrical measurements and by micromagnetic simulations, only a few attempts have been made to directly observe the magnetic landscape that sustains these structures, and then only for a restricted set of experimental parameter values. In this work we use and x-ray holography technique HERALDO, to image the magnetic structure of the [ Co/ Ni] x4 multilayer within a NC orthogonal pseudo spin-valve, for different range of magnetic fields and injected electric currents. The magnetic configuration imaged at -33 mA and 0.3 T for devices with 90 nm NC diameter reveals a structure that is within the range of current where the droplet soliton exist based on our electrical measurements and have it is consistent with the expected size of the droplet (similar to 100 nm diameter) and its spatial position within the sample. We also report the magnetisation configurations observed at lower DC currents in the presence of fields (0-50 mT), where it is expected to observe regimes of the unstable droplet formation.

We study the auto-oscillating magnetodynamics in orthogonal spin-torque nano-oscillators (STNOs) as a function of the out-of-plane (OOP) magnetic-field angle. In perpendicular fields and at OOP field angles down to approximately 50°, we observe the nucleation of a droplet. However, for field angles below 50°, experiments indicate that the droplet gives way to propagating spin waves, in agreement with our micromagnetic simulations. Theoretical calculations show that the physical mechanism behind these observations is the sign changing of spin-wave nonlinearity (SWN) by angle. In addition, we show that the presence of a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy free layer in the system reverses the angular dependence of the SWN and dynamics in STNOs with respect to the known behavior determined for the in-plane magnetic anisotropy free layer. Our results are of fundamental interest in understanding the rich dynamics of nanoscale solitons and spin-wave dynamics in STNOs.

Nano-contact spin-torque vortex oscillators (STVOs) are anticipated to find application as nanoscale sources of microwave emission in future technological applications. Presently the output power and phase stability of individual STVOs are not competitive with existing oscillator technologies. Synchronisation of multiple nano-contact STVOs via magnetisation dynamics has been proposed to enhance the microwave emission. The control of device-to-device variations, such as mode splitting of the microwave emission, is essential if multiple STVOs are to be successfully synchronised. In this work a combination of electrical measurements and time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy (TRSKM) was used to demonstrate how mode splitting in the microwave emission of STVOs was related to the magnetisation dynamics that are generated. The free-running STVO response to a DC current only was used to identify devices and bias magnetic field configurations for which single and multiple modes of microwave emission were observed. Stroboscopic Kerr images were acquired by injecting a small amplitude RF current to phase lock the free-running STVO response. The images showed that the magnetisation dynamics of a multimode device with moderate splitting could be controlled by the injected RF current so that they exhibit similar spatial character to that of a single mode. Significant splitting was found to result from a complicated equilibrium magnetic state that was observed in Kerr images as irregular spatial characteristics of the magnetisation dynamics. Such dynamics were observed far from the nano-contact and so their presence cannot be detected in electrical measurements. This work demonstrates that TRSKM is a powerful tool for the direct observation of the magnetisation dynamics generated by STVOs that exhibit complicated microwave emission. Characterisation of such dynamics outside the nano-contact perimeter permits a deeper insight into the requirements for optimal phase-locking of multiple STVOs that share common magnetic layers.

Time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy has been used to directly image the magnetization dynamics of nanocontact (NC) spin-torque vortex oscillators (STVOs) when phase locked to an injected microwave (rf) current. The Kerr images reveal free-layer magnetization dynamics that extend outside the NC footprint, where they cannot be detected electrically, but which are crucial to phase-lock STVOs that share common magnetic layers. For a single NC, dynamics were observed not only when the STVO frequency was fully locked to that of the rf current, but also for a partially locked state characterized by periodic changes in the core trajectory at the rf frequency. For a pair of NCs, we explore the correlation between the spatial character of injection-locked dynamics and the free-running spectra. Insight gained from these images may improve understanding of the conditions required for mutual phase locking of multiple STVOs, and hence enhanced microwave power emission.

Time-averaged images of the magnetization within single-layer spin-transfer oscillators have been obtained using the holography with extended reference by autocorrelation linear differential operator technique. Transport measurements on a Pd(5)-Cu(20)-Ni81Fe19(7)-Cu(2)-Pd(2) (in nanometers) stack with a 100 nm diameter nanocontact reveal the presence of vortex dynamics. Magnetic images of the device for injected current values of 24 and -24 mA suggest that a vortex has been ejected from the nanocontact and become pinned at the edge of the region that is visible through the Au mask.

We report on the fabrication of nano-contact spin-torque oscillators based on single layers of the epitaxially grown half-metal NiMnSb with ultralow spin wave damping. We demonstrate magnetization auto-oscillations at microwave frequencies in the 1-3 GHz range in out-of-plane magnetic fields. Threshold current densities as low as 3 x 10(11) A m(-2) are observed as well as minimum oscillation linewidths of 200 kHz, both of which are much lower than the values achieved in conventional metallic spin-valve-based devices of comparable dimensions. These results enable the fabrication of spin transfer torque driven magnonic devices with low current density requirements, improved signal linewidths, and in a simplified single-layer geometry. Published by AIP Publishing.

Static and dynamic magnetic solitons play a critical role in applied nanomagnetism. Magnetic droplets, a type of non-topological dissipative soliton, can be nucleated and sustained in nanocontact spin-torque oscillators with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy free layers. Here, we perform a detailed experimental determination of the full droplet nucleation boundary in the current-field plane for a wide range of nanocontact sizes and demonstrate its excellent agreement with an analytical expression originating from a stability analysis. Our results reconcile recent contradicting reports of the field dependence of the droplet nucleation. Furthermore, our analytical model both highlights the relation between the fixed layer material and the droplet nucleation current magnitude, and provides an accurate method to experimentally determine the spin transfer torque asymmetry of each device.

The effect of ferromagnetic layer thickness on the temperature-dependent stray-field-induced coupling mechanism is investigated in perpendicular pseudo-spin-valves based on [Ni/Co](5)/ Cu/Co-[Ni/Co](n) (n = 2, 3, 4, and 5). Experimental observations show that as n increases from 2 to 4, the difference in coercivity and anisotropy between the two ([Ni/Co](5) or bottom-layer, and [Ni/Co](n) or top-layer) layers increases and the room temperature coupling strength decreases. The coupling then increases for n = 5, as the coercivity difference shrinks and anisotropy decreases. At reduced temperature, the layers start to decouple at a temperature, which increases with n from 2 to 4 and decreases for n = 5 via a stray-field domain-replication mechanism. Our results are useful to control the coupling in pseudo-spin-valves for practical applications in magnetoresistive devices.

Superharmonic injection locking of single nanocontact (NC) spin-torque vortex oscillators (STVOs) subject to a small microwave current has been explored. Frequency locking was observed up to the fourth harmonic of the STVO fundamental frequency f(0) in microwave magnetoelectronic measurements. The large frequency tunability of the STVO with respect to f(0) allowed the device to be locked to multiple subharmonics of the microwave frequency f(RF), or to the same subharmonic over a wide range of fRF by tuning the dc current. In general, analysis of the locking range, linewidth, and amplitude showed that the locking efficiency decreased as the harmonic number increased, as expected for harmonic synchronization of a nonlinear oscillator. Time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy (TRSKM) revealed significant differences in the spatial character of the magnetization dynamics of states locked to the fundamental and harmonic frequencies, suggesting significant differences in the vortex core trajectories within the same device. Superharmonic injection locking of a NC-STVO may open up possibilities for devices such as nanoscale frequency dividers, while differences in the core trajectory may allow mutual synchronization to be achieved in multioscillator networks by tuning the spatial character of the dynamics within shared magnetic layers.