Magnetic excitations in a nanocontact - art. no. 020407

The domain wall in a ferromagnetic nanocontact adopts a specific configurat ion-Neel-like, vortex. or Bloch-likedepending on the dipole-dipole interact ions governed by the size and shape of the contact and its atomic structure . Spontaneous thermal fluctuations between these modes arise in a soft ferr omagnet at room temperature when the dimensions of the contact are less tha n about 10 nm. The giant magnetoresistance of a nanocontact may be reduced, but not eliminated by the mode fluctuations.