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Spin-polarized Current Switching of Co/Cu/Py Pac-man type II Spin-valve
We investigated spin-polarized current switching of Pac-man type II (PM-II) nanoelements in Pac-man shaped nanoscale spin-valves (Co/Cu/Py) using micromagnetic simulations. The effects of slot angle and antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer were simulated to obtain optimum switching in less than 2 ns. At a critical slot angle of 105°, the lowest current density for anti-parallel to parallel (AP-P) switching was observed due to no vortex or antivortex formation during the magnetic reversal process. All other slot angles for AP-P formed a vortex or antivortex during the magnetization reversal process. Additionally, a vortex or anti-vortex formed for all slot angles for parallel to anti-parallel (P-AP) switching. The addition of an AFM layer caused the current density to decrease significantly for AP-P and P-AP at slot angles less than 90°. However, at slot angles greater than 90°, the current density tended to decrease by less amounts or actually increased slightly as shape anisotropy became more dominant. This allowed ultra-fast switching with 5.05 and 5.65 x 108 A/cm2 current densities for AP-P and P-AP, respectively, at a slot angle of 105°.