Magnetization Dynamics of Coupled Vortices

We report on the layer-resolved imaging of the magnetization dynamics of vortices in different coupling states. The study is performed using time-resolved magnetic soft x-ray microscopy. Magnetic vortices confined into micron-sized trilayer stacks offer a unique opportunity to study the coupling of magnetic moments on the nanoscopic scale. Antiferromagnetically (AFM) coupled vortices can be created within cobalt-IL-permalloy stacks, if the material of the nonmagnetic interlayer (IL) is chosen properly, with the thickness corresponding to the first antiferromagnetic maximum of the interlayer-exchange-coupling (IEC). It is known that the strength, as well as the orientation of the IEC can be modified by noble gas ion irradiation. A controlled neon irradiation of such structures leads to a successive reorientation of the IEC and eventually AFM coupled vortices can be transformed into ferromagnetically (FM) coupled ones. The response of a vortex to an alternating magnetic field depends crucially on the specific orientation of its in-plane magnetization curling (circulation) and the direction of the out-of- plane vortex core (polarization). This holds true especially for the gyrotropic mode, which corresponds to an orbiting of the core around its equilibrium position. The cores in the individual layers of a strictly FM coupled vortex pair show an in-phase motion that is similar to that of a single layer vortex. However, in the case of a vortex pair with AFM coupled in-plane magnetization an inverse sense of gyration can be detected, with highly elliptical trajectories of the individual cores. Furthermore, independent vortex core switching processes were observed in the individual layers of a vortex pair with FM coupled circulation.