Spin distributions and dynamics in domain walls guided by soft magnetic nanowire structures

Abstract Numerical simulations are used to investigate static and dynamic properties of spin distributions within domain walls confined by rectangular cross section Permalloy nanowire conduits having widths up to 1000 nm and thickness up to 50 nm. Phase boundaries and critical regions associated with domain-wall spin distributions of various topologies [transverse (or asymmetric transverse), vortex, double-vortex, triple-vortex and cross-tie] are accurately determined using high-performance computing resources. Mobility curves are calculated that characterize domain-wall propagation for an interesting region of the spin texture phase diagram: 20 nm thick nanowires with widths of 60–700 nm at axial drive fields extending to 150 Oe. The simulations (and corresponding experiments, which are discussed), reveal new propagating fixed configuration domain-wall topologies with enhanced velocity. Effects of temperature on the spin distributions and dynamics are explored, by conducting simulations that include separately varying temperature-dependent parameters (saturation magnetization and exchange constant) and simulating effects of temperature-dependent fluctuations using the Langevin dynamics feature of the simulation code. Related temperature-dependent experiments are discussed. The simulation studies demonstrate a close connection between static and (field-driven) dynamic spin configurations in nanowire-confined domain walls and demonstrate the importance of exploring model-system parameter space at high numerical precision.