Time-resolved observation of fast domain-walls driven by vertical spin currents in short tracks

We present time-resolved measurements of the displacement of magnetic domain-walls (DWs) driven by vertical spin-polarized currents in track-shaped magnetic tunnel junctions. In these structures, we observe very high DW velocities (600 m/s) at current densities below 107 A/cm2. We show that the efficient spin-transfer torque combined with a short propagation distance allows avoiding the Walker breakdown process and achieving deterministic, reversible, and fast (≈1 ns) DW-mediated switching of magnetic tunnel junction elements, which is of great interest for the implementation of fast DW-based spintronic devices.