Effect of spin Hall torque on current-induced precessional domain wall motion

Abstract

Two important mechanisms for current-induced domain wall (DW) dynamics, namely, precessional DW motion driven by the adiabatic spin transfer torque and steady DW motion induced by the spin Hall torque, have been proposed and experimentally confirmed. However, the effect of the spin Hall torque on precessional DW motion has not been reported yet. Here, we show that the spin Hall torque affects the precessional DW motion when the in-plane field is applied. It is found that the in-plane field induces a half rotation time difference during DW precession, which gives rise to the nonvanishing spin Hall torque on the precessional DW motion. (C) 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics