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This thesis gives new insights to the field of current- and field-induced domain wall dynamics phenomena in nanopatterned elements and of the role of the different energy terms to the spin configuration of half-metallic systems. Time resolved imaging allows for the determination of the effective domain wall mass and the underlying physical origins. In current-induced domain wall displacement experiments, the influence of edge roughness-induced pinning was identified as having a big influence on the critical current density that is needed to displace a domain wall in a magnetic micro- or nanowire. By applying a specially developed patterning method, the domain wall pinning at edge defects was highly reduced and the device performance was improved by a factor of four, compared to conventionally produced wires. Patterning methods for ferromagnetic half-metals were also developed and the spin structure of structured elements are characterized.

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Dr. Jan Rhensius studied physics from 2002 to 2007 in Duisburg (de) and received his doctor´s degree in 2011 from the University of Konstanz (de) in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institut (ch).His research focusses on spin dynamics and magnetic systems and will be continued in his position as a research fellow in Singapore (NUS).

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