Optimal Control of Magnetization Reversal in a Monodomain Particle by Means of Applied Magnetic Field.

A complete analytical solution to the optimal reversal of a macrospin with easy-axis anisotropy is presented. An optimal control path minimizing the energy cost of the reversal is identified and used to derive the time-dependent direction and amplitude of the optimal switching field. The minimum energy cost of the reversal scales inversely with the switching time for fast switching, follows exponential asymptotics for slow switching, and reaches the lower limit proportional to the energy barrier between the target states and to the damping parameter at infinitely long switching time.

Duplication, Collapse, and Escape of Magnetic Skyrmions Revealed Using a Systematic Saddle Point Search Method.

Various transitions that a magnetic Skyrmion can undergo are found in calculations using a method for climbing up the energy surface and converging onto first order saddle points. In addition to collapse and escape through a boundary, the method identifies a transition where the Skyrmion divides and forms two Skyrmions. The activation energy for this duplication process can be similar to that of collapse and escape.

Lifetime of racetrack skyrmions.

The skyrmion racetrack is a promising concept for future information technology. There, binary bits are carried by nanoscale spin swirls-skyrmions-driven along magnetic strips. Stability of the skyrmions is a critical issue for realising this technology.

Magnetic exchange force microscopy: theoretical analysis of induced magnetization reversals.

In magnetic exchange force microscopy a magnetic tip is scanned over the surface of a solid and an image representing the exchange interaction recorded. Sudden changes in the image corresponding to magnetization switching can be monitored as a function of the tip-surface distance thereby giving important information about the lifetime of metastable magnetic states and how it is affected by the exchange interaction. Here, theoretical calculations are carried out to study the tip-surface interaction and determine the mechanism and rate of transitions in a magnetic exchange force microscopy experiment, and comparison made with reported experimental data on an Fe cluster interacting with an antiferromagnetic Fe overlayer on a W(001) surface.

Spin relaxation signature of colossal magnetic anisotropy in platinum atomic chains.

Recent experimental data demonstrate emerging magnetic order in platinum atomically thin nanowires. Furthermore, an unusual form of magnetic anisotropy - colossal magnetic anisotropy (CMA) - was earlier predicted to exist in atomically thin platinum nanowires. Using spin dynamics simulations based on first-principles calculations, we here explore the spin dynamics of atomically thin platinum wires to reveal the spin relaxation signature of colossal magnetic anisotropy, comparing it with other types of anisotropy such as uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA).

Classical to quantum mechanical tunneling mechanism crossover in thermal transitions between magnetic states.

Transitions between states of a magnetic system can occur by jumps over an energy barrier or by quantum mechanical tunneling through the energy barrier. The rate of such transitions is an important consideration when the stability of magnetic states is assessed for example for nanoscale candidates for data storage devices. The shift in transition mechanism from jumps to tunneling as the temperature is lowered is analyzed and a general expression derived for the crossover temperature.

Size and shape dependence of thermal spin transitions in nanoislands.

Theoretical calculations of thermal spin transitions in nanoscale clusters on a surface are presented. The mechanisms for magnetization reversal are identified and the activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the rate are evaluated using a recently developed harmonic transition state theory and a Heisenberg-type Hamiltonian. A maximum is found in the pre-exponential factor as a function of cluster size corresponding to a crossover from a uniform rotation mechanism to temporary domain wall formation.