Abstract
Various notches are often introduced in spintronics to trap a domain wall (DW). Common wisdom would expect notches to strengthen DW pinning and to hinder DW motion. Interestingly, our simulations show that notches help electric current to depin a DW with the assistance of vortex generation. The DW displacement is insensitive to notch geometry and current density. This phenomenon is explained by the Thiele equation. Moreover, a current density below the intrinsic threshold value, which is the minimum current to sustain continuous DW motion in a uniform nanowire, can induce a continuous DW propagation along a wire with a series of notches.
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Yuan, H., Wang, X. Vortex-assisted domain wall depinning and propagation in notched nanowires. Eur. Phys. J. B 88, 214 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2015-60421-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2015-60421-x