Manipulating the magnetization direction of transverse domain walls in Permalloy/Ir strips using nanosecond current pulses

•Switching of transverse walls by Oersted fields in Py/Ir strips was studied by MFM.•The switching fields were compared to micromagnetic simulations.•Oersted fields may stabilize transverse walls in current-induced domain wall motion.

Using magnetic force microscopy and micromagnetic simulations, we studied the effect of Oersted magnetic fields on transverse magnetic domain walls in Fe20Ni80/Ir bilayer nanostrips. Applying nanosecond current pulses with a current density of around 2×1012 A/m2, the magnetization direction of a transverse domain wall in the Fe20Ni80-layer could be switched reversibly and reproducibly. This suggests that in bi- and trilayer strips the Oersted field stabilizes the transverse wall magnetization direction during current-induced domain wall motion and prevents domain wall transformations.