Independent control of the vortex chirality and polarity in a pair of magnetic nanodots

Independent control of the vortex chirality and polarity is realized by changing the in-plane magnetic field direction in nanodot pair through Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF) simulation. The two magnetic circles are close to each other and have magnetic interaction. The two circles always have the same polarity and opposite chirality at every remanent state. There are totally four predictable magnetic states in the nanodot pair which can be obtained in the remanent state relaxed from the saturation state along all possible directions. An explanation on the formation of vortex states is given by vortex dynamics. The vortex states are stable in large out-of-plane magnetic field which is in a direction opposite to the vortex polarity. The geometry of the nanodot pair gives a way to easily realize a vortex state with specific polarity and chirality. (C) 2017 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.