Microwave assisted magnetization switching in Co/Pt multilayer

Abstract

In this study, we have experimentally investigated the microwave assisted magnetization by switching (MAS) on the microstructured Co/Pt multilayer. The sample exhibits the typical magnetization curve peculiar to perpendicular anisotropy films, that is, a steep reversal initiated by nucleation of a reversed domain followed by its subsequent gradual expansion by the domain wall displacement. By applying microwaves with the frequency of GHz order, the nucleation field Hn is significantly reduced at three frequencies. Taking into account the effective anisotropy field of our sample, the first dip of Hn at the lowest frequency probably corresponds to the Kittel mode excitation, and the other two dips at higher frequencies correspond to unidentified excitation modes other than the Kittel mode. Among them, the last dip of Hn at the highest frequency reaches about 1/3 of that without microwave application. These results suggest the existence of more effective excitation modes for MAS than the Kittel mode.