Model for a collimated spin-wave beam generated by a single-layer spin torque nanocontact

A model of spin-torque-induced magnetization dynamics based on semiclassical spin diffusion theory for a single-layer nanocontact is presented. The model incorporates effects due to the current-induced Oersted field and predicts the generation of a variety of spatially dependent, coherent, precessional magnetic wave structures. Directionally controllable collimated spin-wave beams, vortex spiral waves, and localized standing waves are found to be excited by the interplay of the Oersted field and the orientation of an applied field. These fields act as a spin-wave “corral” around the nanocontact that controls the propagation of spin waves in certain directions.