2002/11/18 by Julie Grollier, J. Grollier, V. Cros +12 · 7 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic Properties and Applications #Magnetic properties of thin films #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.67.174402
arxiv created 2002/11/18 · openalex publication_date 2003/05/05 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We describe and analyze the effect of an applied field (Happl) on the current-driven magnetization reversal in pillar-shaped Co/Cu/Co trilayers. Depending on the magnitude of Happl, we observe two different types of transitions between the parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetic configurations of the the Co layers. If Happl is smaller than some threshold value, the transitions between P and AP are relatively sharp and irreversible. For Happl exceeding this threshold value, the transitions are progressive and reversible. We show that this behavior can be precisely accounted for by introducing the current-induced torque of the spin transfer models into a Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation to determine the stability or instability of the P and AP states. This analysis also provides a good description for the field dependence of the critical currents.