Circuit model for domain walls in ferromagnetic nanowires: Application to conductance and spin transfer torques

2004/06/03 by Peter E. Falloon, Rodolfo A. Jalabert, Dietmar Weinmann +2
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Semiconductor materials and devices #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.70.174424

published as Phys. Rev. B 70, 174424 (2004) · 10 pages, 5 figures; submitted to Physical Review B

arxiv created 2004/06/03 · openalex publication_date 2004/11/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We present a circuit model to describe the electron transport through a domain wall in a ferromagnetic nanowire. The domain wall is treated as a coherent four-terminal device with incoming and outgoing channels of spin up and down and the spin-dependent scattering in the vicinity of the wall is modeled using classical resistances. We derive the conductance of the circuit in terms of general conductance parameters for a domain wall. We then calculate these conductance parameters for the case of ballistic transport through the domain wall, and obtain a simple formula for the domain wall magnetoresistance, which gives a result consistent with recent experiments. The spin transfer torque exerted on a domain wall by a spin-polarized current is calculated using the circuit model, and an estimate of the speed of the resulting wall motion is made.

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