title: Probing wavenumbers of current-induced excitations in point-contact experiments.
abstract: We demonstrate how a mechanical point-contact technique can provide information on the wavenumber of spin waves excited by high-density electrical current in magnetic multilayers. By varying the size of point-contacts, we have been able to control the size of the excitation volume and therefore the wavelength of current-induced spin waves. This leads to a technique with in situ sensitivity to wavenumbers of current-induced excitations. Our detailed size-dependent measurements support the prediction that the excited wavelength is determined by the contact size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Center for Nano and Molecular Science and Technology, and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsoi
keywords: giant magnetoresistance; point contact; spin transfer torque; spin waves