Dynamic domain wall chirality rectification by rotating magnetic fields

We report on the observation of magnetic vortex domain wall chirality reversal in ferromagnetic rings that is controlled by the sense of rotation of a magnetic field. We use time-resolved X-ray microscopy to dynamically image the chirality-switching process and perform micromagnetic simulations to deduce the switching details from time-resolved snapshots. We find experimentally that the switching occurs within less than 4 ns and is observed in all samples with ring widths ranging from 0.5 mu m to 2 mu m, ring diameters between 2 mu m and 5 mu m, and a thickness of 30 nm, where a vortex domain wall is present in the magnetic onion state of the ring. From the magnetic contrast in the time-resolved images, we can identify effects of thermal activation, which plays a role for the switching process. Moreover, we find that the process is highly reproducible so that the domain wall chirality can be set with high fidelity. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.