Interfacial current-induced torques in Pt/Co/GdOx

Current-driven domain wall (DW) motion is investigated in Pt/Co/GdOx nanostrips with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Measurements of the propagation field and the energy barrier for thermally activated DW motion reveal a large current-induced torque equivalent to an out-of-plane magnetic field of similar to 60 Oe per 10(11) A/m(2). This same field-to-current scaling is shown to hold in both the slow thermally activated and fast near-flow regimes of DW motion. The current-induced torque decreases with 4 angstrom of Pt decorating the Co/GdOx interface and vanishes entirely with Pt replacing GdOx, suggesting that the Co/GdOx interface contributes directly to highly efficient current-driven DW motion. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4737899]