Perpendicularly magnetized structures that are switchable using a spin current under field-free conditions can potentially be applied in spin−orbit torque magnetic randomaccess memory (SOT-MRAM). Several structures have been developed; however, new structures with a simple stack structure and MRAM compatibility are urgently needed. Herein, a typical structure in a perpendicular spin-transfer torque MRAM, the Pt/ Co multilayer and its synthetic antiferromagnetic counterpart with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, was observed to possess an intrinsic interlayer chiral interaction between neighboring magnetic layers, namely, the interlayer Dzyaloshinskii−Moriya interaction (DMI) effect. Furthermore, using a current parallel to the eigenvector of the interlayer DMI, we switched the perpendicular magnetization of both structures without a magnetic field, owing to the additional symmetry breaking introduced by the interlayer DMI. This SOT switching scheme realized in the Pt/Co multilayer and its synthetic antiferromagnet structure may open a new avenue toward practical perpendicular SOT-MRAM and other SOT devices.

We present an overview in the understanding of spin-transfer torque (STT) induced magnetization dynamics in spintorque nano-oscillator (STNO) devices. The STNO contains an in-plane (IP) magnetized free layer and an out-of-plane (OP) magnetized spin polarizing layer. After a brief introduction, we first use mesoscopic micromagnetic simulations, which are based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation including the STT effect, to specify how a spin-torque term may tune the magnetization precession orbits of the free layer, showing that the oscillator frequency is proportional to the current density and the z-component of the free layer magnetization. Next, we propose a pendulum-like model within the macrospin approximation to describe the dynamic properties in such type of STNOs. After that, we further show the procession dynamics of the STNOs excited by IP and OP dual spin-polarizers. Both the numerical simulations and analytical theory indicate that the precession frequency is linearly proportional to the spin-torque of the OP polarizer only and is irrelevant to the spin-torque of the IP polarizer. Finally, a promising approach of coordinate transformation from the laboratory frame to the rotation frame is introduced, by which the nonstationary OP magnetization precession process is therefore transformed into the stationary process in the rotation frame. Through this method, a promising digital frequency shift-key modulation technique is presented, in which the magnetization precession can be well controlled at a given orbit as well as its precession frequency can be tuned with the co-action of spin polarized current and magnetic field (or electric field) pulses.

The skyrmion-based spin-torque nano-oscillator is a potential next-generation nano microwave signal generator. In this paper, the self-sustained oscillation dynamics of magnetic skyrmions are investigated in a nanodisk with synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) multilayer structure, in which the skyrmion Hall effect can be effectively suppressed. An analytical model based on the Thiele equation is developed to describe the dynamics of a pair of skyrmions formed in the SAF nanodisks. Combining the analytical solutions with the micromagnetic simulations, we demonstrate that circular rotations with opposite directions for a skyrmion pair could be suppressed by increasing the antiferromagnetic (AF) coupling in a nanopillar with dual spin polarizers. However, a stable circular rotation can be achieved in a nanopillar with a single spin polarizer, in which one skyrmion plays as a master whose rotation is driven by spin torque, while the other skyrmion is a slaver whose motion is dragged by the AF coupling between the two free layers. Moreover, we found that the effective mass factor in the SAF structure rather than the gyrotropic torque plays the dominant role in the circular rotation of skyrmions. The rotation orbit radius and frequency gradually increase with the decrease of damping factor and increase of applied current strength.

One key advantage of antiferromagnets over ferromagnets is the high magnetic resonance frequencies that enable ultrafast magnetization switching and oscillations. Among a variety of antiferromagnets, the synthetic antiferromagnet (SAF) is a promising candidate for high-speed spintronic devices design. In this paper, micromagnetic simulations are employed to study the resonance modes in an SAF structure consisting of two identical CoFeB ferromagnetic (FM) layers that are antiferromagnetically coupled via interlayer exchange coupling. When the external bias magnetic field is small enough to ensure the magnetizations of two FM sublayers remain antiparallel alignments, we find that there exist two resonance modes with different precession chirality, namely y-component synchronized mode and z-component synchronized mode, respectively. These two resonance modes show different features from the conventional in-phase acoustic mode and out-of-phase optic mode. The simulation results are in good agreement with our theoretical analyses.

Magnons (the quanta of spin waves) could be used to encode information in beyond Moore computing applications. In this study, the magnon coupling between acoustic mode and optic mode in synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) is investigated by micromagnetic simulations. For a symmetrical SAF system, the time-evolution magnetizations of the two ferromagnetic layers oscillate in-phase at the acoustic mode and out-of-phase at the optic mode, showing an obvious crossing point in their antiferromagnetic resonance spectra. However, the symmetry breaking in an asymmetrical SAF system by the thickness difference, can induce an anti-crossing gap between the two frequency branches of resonance modes and thereby a strong magnon-magnon coupling appears between the resonance modes. The magnon coupling induced a hybridized resonance mode and its phase difference varies with the coupling strength. The maximum coupling occurs at the bias magnetic field at which the two ferromagnetic layers oscillate with a 90° phase difference. Besides, we show how the resonance modes in SAFs change from the in-phase state to the out-of-phase state by slightly tuning the magnon-magnon coupling strength. Our work provides a clear physical picture for the understanding of magnon-magnon coupling in a SAF system and may provide an opportunity to handle the magnon interaction in synthetic antiferromagnetic spintronics.