Strain-mediated deterministic control of 360° domain wall motion in magnetoelastic nanorings

This study provides numerical simulations for deterministic 360 degrees magnetization rotation of the transverse domain walls in a nickel nano-ring (outer diameter: 500 nm, inner diameter: 300 nm, and thickness: 10 nm) on a lead zirconate titanate (Pb[ZrxTi1-x]O-3 0 < x < 1) (PZT) thin film (500 nm) deposited onto a Si substrate with surface patterned electrodes. Two alternative electrode architectures are studied, namely, a 4-electrode and a 6-electrode configuration. The 4-electrode configuration relies on magnetization dynamics to produce an overshoot coupled with proper timing control of the voltage applied to achieve 360 degrees magnetization rotation. In contrast, the 6-electrode configuration only requires sequential voltage application to successive pairs of electrodes and thus can be operated at quasi-static speeds and does not rely on magnetization dynamics to achieve 360 degrees magnetization rotation. These analytical models provide support for developing new devices such as nanoscale multiferroic driven electromagnetic motors. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.