Fast and controllable switching the circulation and polarity of magnetic vortices

We report a method to switch both the circulation and polarity of magnetic vortices in a controlled manner within a nanosecond utilizing micromagnetic simulations. The controllable switching is achieved with the combination of two different types of magnetic field pulses on submicron permalloy disks with heptagonal shape. When a magnetic field pulse of ~100 mT is applied along one of the edge directions of the heptagon, the circulation of the vortex can be manipulated according to the pulse direction. When a pair of pulses with a few tens of mT in magnitude and relative delay of about 100 ps is applied in orthogonal directions, the polarity can be further controlled without influencing the circulation. The different magnitude of switching fields allows for the combination of both types of pulses in the control of both the circulation and polarity of magnetic vortices. The switching mechanism and the controlling parameters for disks with diameters of 500 and 700 nm are discussed.