The spin-transfer nano-oscillator (STNO) offers the possibility of using the transfer of spin angular momentum via spin-polarized currents to generate microwave signals. However, at present STNO microwave emission mainly relies on both large drive currents and external magnetic fields. These issues hinder the implementation of STNOs for practical applications in terms of power dissipation and size. Here, we report microwave measurements on STNOs built with MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions having a planar polarizer and a perpendicular free layer, where microwave emission with large output power, excited at ultralow current densities, and in the absence of any bias magnetic fields is observed. The measured critical current density is over one order of magnitude smaller than previously reported. These results suggest the possibility of improved integration of STNOs with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology, and could represent a new route for the development of the next-generation of on-chip oscillators.

Microwave detectors based on the spin-torque diode effect are among the key emerging spintronic devices. By utilizing the spin of electrons in addition to charge, they have the potential to overcome the theoretical performance limits of their semiconductor (Schottky) counterparts. However, so far, practical implementations of spin-diode microwave detectors have been limited by the necessity to apply a magnetic field. Here, we demonstrate nanoscale magnetic tunnel junction microwave detectors, exhibiting high-detection sensitivity of 75,400 mV mW−1 at room temperature without any external bias fields, and for low-input power (micro-Watts or lower). This sensitivity is significantly larger than both state-of-the-art Schottky diode detectors and existing spintronic diodes. Micromagnetic simulations and measurements reveal the essential role of injection locking to achieve this sensitivity performance. This mechanism may provide a pathway to enable further performance improvement of spin-torque diode microwave detectors.

Abstract. Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected states that are very promising for the design of the next generation of ultralow-power electronic devices. In this letter, we propose a magnetic tunnel junction based spin-transfer torque diode with a magnetic skyrmion as ground state and a perpendicular polarizer patterned as nanocontact for a local injection of the current. The key result is the possibility to achieve sensitivities (i.e. detection voltage over input microwave power) larger than 2000V/W for optimized contact diameters. Our results can be very useful for the identification of a new class of spintorque diodes with a non-uniform ground state.

It was shown by micromagnetic simulation that a current-driven in-plane magnetized magnetic nano-contact, besides a quasi-linear propagating ("Slonczewski") spin wave mode, can also support a nonlinear self-localized spin wave "bullet" mode that exists in a much wider range of bias currents. The frequency of the "bullet" mode lies below the spectrum of linear propagating spin waves, which makes this mode evanescent and determines its spatial localization. The threshold current for the excitation of the self-localized "bullet" is substantially lower than for the linear propagating mode, but finite-amplitude initial perturbations of magnetization are necessary to generate a "bullet" in our numerical simulations, where thermal fluctuations are neglected.Consequently, in these simulations the hysteretic switching between the propagating and localized spin wave modes is found when the bias current is varied.

This Letter introduces a seismic metamaterial (SM) composed by a chain of mass-in-mass system able to filter the S-waves of an earthquake. We included the effect of the SM into the mono dimensional model for the soil response analysis. The SM modifies the soil behavior and in presence of an internal damping the amplitude of the soil amplification function is reduced also in a region near the resonance frequency. This SM can be realized by a continuous structure with inside a 3d-matrix of isochronous oscillators based on a sphere rolling over a cycloidal trajectory.