Invited Speakers

Geoffrey Beach gbeach@physics.utexas.edu University of Texas at Austin

Dynamics of Field and Current-Driven Domain Walls in Ferromagnetic Nanowires Domains of opposing magnetization direction in a ferromagnet are separated by transition regions called domain walls. These walls may be moved not only by a magnetic field, but also by an electric current, through the process of spin-momentum transfer. This effect, by which an electric current alone may change the magnetic state of a device, is hoped to provide the basis for a new generation of "spintronic" technologies. However, many challenges stand in the way of understanding and exploiting current-driven wall motion, particularly in the nanoscale geometries of interest. I will describe our experimental studies of the dynamics of domain wall motion in ferromagnetic nanowires. I will compare and contrast the roles that field and current play in driving spin dynamics, and describe the successes and failures of existing models of the underlying interactions.