Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 26, 2026

Picometer-Precision Atomic Position Tracking through Electron Microscopy
Published on: July 3, 2021
Theory of current-driven domain wall motion: spin transfer versus momentum transfer
1Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan.
Abstract:
A self-contained theory of the domain wall dynamics in ferromagnets under finite electric current is presented. The current has two effects: one is momentum transfer, which is proportional to the charge current and wall resistivity (rho(w)); the other is spin transfer, proportional to spin current. For thick walls, as in metallic wires, the latter dominates and the threshold current for wall motion is determined by the hard-axis magnetic anisotropy, except for the case of very strong pinning. For thin walls, as in nanocontacts and magnetic semiconductors, the momentum-transfer effect dominates, and the threshold current is proportional to V(0)/rho(w), V0 being the pinning potential.
Related Concept Videos
Conservation of Linear Momentum for a System of Particles
The impulsive force at play during this interaction is of extremely short duration, rendering its impulse negligible. When...
Impulse-Momentum Theorem
By writing Newton's second law of motion in terms of the momentum of an object and the external force acting on it, and simultaneously using the definition of the impulse vector, it can be shown that the total impulse on an object is equal to its net...
Moment-of-Momentum Equation
Principle of Angular Impulse and Momentum
Relation Between Moment of a Force and Angular Momentum
The temporal change...
Magnetic Field due to Moving Charges
Consider a point charge moving with a constant velocity. Like the electric field, the magnetic field at any point is directly proportional to the magnitude of the charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the source point and the field point. However, unlike the electric field, the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the plane containing the line...
