Universal classes of magnetic-field- and electric-current-induced magnetic domain-wall dynamics in one and two dimensional regimes

Abstract

Magnetic domain-wall (DW), interface between different magnetic domains, has received great attention due to its opportunities toward memory and logic devices as well as its abundant physical properties as a driven interface. Since recent advances of fabrication techniques allow us to scale down the devices, we are facing lower dimensional properties that should be elucidated undoubtedly. Here, we review recent progresses on DW dynamics in ferromagnetic nanowires and our recent experimental observation on the dimensionality transition of the DW dynamics driven by magnetic field and/or current. Our results show that the DW dynamics shows a transition from two to one dimensional behavior as the wire width decreases. In addition, we also demonstrate that the magnetic-field-and electric-current-driven DW dynamics in metallic ferromagnetic nanowires belong to the same universal class. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.