Thermally activated switching of perpendicular magnet by spin-orbit spin torque

Ki Seung Lee, Seo Won Lee, Byoung Chul Min, Kyoung Jin Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

91 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the threshold current for thermally activated switching of a perpendicular magnet by spin-orbit spin torque. Based on the Fokker-Planck equation, we obtain an analytic expression of the switching current, in agreement with numerical result. We find that thermal energy barrier exhibits a quasi-linear dependence on the current, resulting in an almost linear dependence of switching current on the log-scaled current pulse-width even below 10 ns. This is in stark contrast to standard spin torque switching, where thermal energy barrier has a quadratic dependence on the current and the switching current rapidly increases at short pulses. Our results will serve as a guideline to design and interpret switching experiments based on spin-orbit spin torque.

Original languageEnglish
Article number072413
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume104
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014 Feb 17

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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