Abstract
Despite the relevance of current-induced magnetic domain wall (DW) motion for new spintronics applications, the exact details of the current-domain wall interaction are not yet understood. A property intimately related to this interaction is the intrinsic DW resistivity. Here, we investigate experimentally how the resistivity inside a DW depends on the wall width ¿, which is tuned using focused ion beam irradiation of Pt/Co/Pt strips. We observe the nucleation of individual DWs with Kerr microscopy, and measure resistance changes in real time. A 1/¿2 dependence of DW resistivity is found, compatible with Levy-Zhang theory. Also quantitative agreement with theory is found by taking full account of the current flowing through each individual layer inside the multilayer stack.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 037205 |
Pages (from-to) | 037205-1/4 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 108 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |