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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Enhancing thermal stability of optimal magnetization reversal in nanoparticles

Mohammad H. A. Badarneh1, Grzegorz J. Kwiatkowski1, and Pavel F. Bessarab1,2,*

  • 1Science Institute, University of Iceland, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland
  • 2Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Linnaeus University, SE-39231 Kalmar, Sweden

  • *Corresponding author: pavel.bessarab@lnu.se
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Phys. Rev. B 109, L180405 – Published 15 May, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.109.L180405

Abstract

Energy-efficient switching of nanoscale magnets requires application of a time-varying magnetic field characterized by microwave frequency. At finite temperatures, even weak thermal fluctuations induce perturbations in the magnetization that can accumulate in time, disrupt the phase locking between the magnetization and the applied field, and eventually compromise magnetization switching. It is demonstrated here that the magnetization reversal is mostly disturbed by unstable perturbations arising in a certain domain of the configuration space of a nanomagnet. The instabilities can be suppressed and the probability of magnetization switching enhanced by applying an additional stimulus such as a weak longitudinal magnetic field that ensures bounded dynamics of the perturbations. Application of the stabilizing longitudinal field to a uniaxial nanomagnet makes it possible to reach a desired probability of magnetization switching even at elevated temperatures. The principle of suppressing instabilities provides a general approach to enhancing thermal stability of magnetization dynamics.

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Phys. Rev. B 109, L180405– Published 15 May, 2024
  • Received 17 January 2024
  • Accepted 30 April 2024
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

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