Comprehensive micromagnetic modeling: practical techniques, applications, and emerging challenges

Abstract

Micromagnetic models play a pivotal role in advancing magnetic materials and spintronic device designs, enabling dynamic and equilibrium studies essential for next-generation information processing and neuromorphic computing. This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to the physics, practical tools, and applications of micromagnetic modeling using MuMax3. The tutorial first analytically defines the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert formalism and the major anisotropy terms that depend on the intrinsic and geometric material parameters. Material parameter lists for diverse magnetic conductors, insulators, semiconductors and topological insulators are presented. Zhang-Li spin transfer torques, Slonczewski spin transfer torques, and spin-orbit torques are formally defined and compared for spin current-driven control of magnetism. On the technical side, the tutorial presents detailed batch simulation scripting, phase diagram plotting, and methods for importing complex geometries for the analysis and design of real devices. Accompanying Jupyter notebook provide the source code for the examples. Finally, the tutorial addresses micromagnetic modeling limitations in capturing quantum effects, multi-domain couplings, and temperature-dependent phenomena. By bridging fundamentals with practical tools and insights into emerging challenges, this tutorial serves as a resource for researchers and educators in spintronics, magnetism, and computational materials science.