Nanomagnetic toggle switching of vortex cores on the picosecond time scale

We present an ultrafast route for a controlled, toggle switching of magnetic vortex cores with ultrashort unipolar magnetic field pulses. The switching process is found to be largely insensitive to extrinsic parameters, like sample size and shape, and it is faster than any field-driven magnetization reversal process previously known from micromagnetic theory. Micromagnetic simulations demonstrate that the vortex core reversal is mediated by a rapid sequence of vortex-antivortex pair-creation and annihilation sub-processes. Specific combinations of field pulse strength and duration are required to obtain a controlled vortex cores reversal. The operational range of this reversal mechanism is summarized in a switching diagram for a 200 nm Permalloy disk.