Current-induced magnetic vortex core switching in a Permalloy nanodisk

The authors report on the switching of a magnetic vortex core in a submicron Permalloy disk, induced by a short current pulse applied in the film plane. Micromagnetic simulations including the adiabatic and nonadiabatic spin-torque terms are used to investigate the current-driven magnetization dynamics. They predict that a core reversal can be triggered by current bursts a tenth of a nanosecond long. The vortex core reversal process is found to be the same as when an external field pulse is applied. The control of a vortex core’s orientation using current pulses introduces the technologically relevant possibility to address individual nanomagnets within dense arrays.