Programmable logic elements based on ferromagnetic nanodisks containing two antidots

Magnetoresistive elements for data storage or logic operations require reliable bistable magnetic switching. Soft magnetic nanodisks containing two antidots, which serve as pinning sites for a magnetic vortex, provide an alternative route for bistable magnetic switching. Here we show by means of micromagnetic simulations that field pulses generated by two orthogonal metallic current lines can switch the magnetic vortex core between antidots on a subnanosecond time scale. Using a third strip line to enable switching of the element’s magnetically hard layer, the logic operations AND, OR, NAND, and NOR can be established.