Manipulation of the magnetic state of a small ferromagnetic particle by means of nonlocal spin-injection techniques (invited)

Nonlocal spin-valve configuration is used for spin current injection into a nanoscale ferromagnetic particle to reverse its magnetization. The nonlocal spin injection aligns the magnetization of the nanoscale particle along the spin injector, whereas the reverse switching is hardly observed up to the available maximum exciting current of about 15 mA. This asymmetric behavior implies the presence of asymmetric barrier formed in the vicinity of the interface. The magnitude of the essential spin current for the reversal is determined to be about 160 μA, on the reasonable order of magnitude compared with the experimental values for conventional pillar structures.