Topological insulators with spin-momentum-locked topological surface states are expected to exhibit a giant spin-orbit torque in the topological insulator/ferromagnet systems. To date, the topological insulator spin-orbit torque-driven magnetization switching is solely reported in a Cr-doped topological insulator at 1.9 K. Here we directly show giant spin-orbit torque-driven magnetization switching in a Bi2Se3/NiFe heterostructure at room temperature captured using a magneto-optic Kerr effect microscope. We identify a large charge-to-spin conversion efficiency of ~1–1.75 in the thin Bi2Se3 films, where the topological surface states are dominant. In addition, we find the current density required for the magnetization switching is extremely low, ~6 × 105 A cm–2, which is one to two orders of magnitude smaller than that with heavy metals. Our demonstration of room temperature magnetization switching of a conventional 3d ferromagnet using Bi2Se3 may lead to potential innovations in topological insulator-based spintronic applications.

Surface states of three-dimensional topological insulators exhibit the phenomenon of spin-momentum locking, whereby the orientation of an electron spin is determined by its momentum. Probing the spin texture of these states is of critical importance for the realization of topological insulator devices, however the main technique available so far is the spin-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Here we reveal a close link between the spin texture and a new kind of magneto-resistance, which depends on the relative orientation of the current with respect to the magnetic field as well as the crystallographic axes, and scales linearly with both the applied electric and magnetic fields. This bilinear magneto-electric resistance can be used to map the spin texture of topological surface states by simple transport measurements. For a prototypical Bi2Se3 single layer, we can map both the in-plane and the out-of-plane components of the spin texturethe latter arising from hexagonal warping.

Strong spin–orbit coupling, resulting in the formation of spin‐momentum‐locked surface states, endows topological insulators with superior spin‐to‐charge conversion characteristics, though the dynamics that govern it have remained elusive. Here, an all‐optical method is presented, which enables unprecedented tracking of the ultrafast dynamics of spin‐to‐charge conversion in a prototypical topological insulator Bi2Se3/ferromagnetic Co heterostructure, down to the sub‐picosecond timescale. Compared to pure Bi2Se3 or Co, a giant terahertz emission is observed in the heterostructure that originates from spin‐to‐charge conversion, in which the topological surface states play a crucial role. A 0.12 ps timescale is identified that sets a technological speed limit of spin‐to‐charge conversion processes in topological insulators. In addition, it is shown that the spin‐to‐charge conversion efficiency is temperature independent in Bi2Se3 as expected from the nature of the surface states, paving the way for designing next‐generation high‐speed optospintronic devices based on topological insulators at room temperature.

Two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at the interface between SrTiO3 (STO) and LaAlO3 (LAO) insulating layer is supposed to possess strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. To date, the inverse Edelstein effect (i.e. spin-to-charge conversion) in the 2DEG layer is reported. However, the direct effect of charge-to-spin conversion, an essential ingredient for spintronic devices in a current induced spin-orbit torque scheme, has not been demonstrated yet.Here we show, for the first time, a highly efficient spin generation with the efficiency of ~6.3 in the STO/LAO/CoFeB structure at room temperature by using spin torque ferromagnetic resonance.In addition, we suggest that the spin transmission through the LAO layer at high temperature range is attributed to the inelastic tunneling via localized states in the LAO band gap. Our findings may lead to potential applications in the oxide insulator based spintronic devices.

The nonlinear Hall effect due to Berry curvature dipole (BCD) induces frequency doubling, which was recently observed in time-reversal-invariant materials. Here we report novel electric frequency doubling in the absence of BCD on a surface of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 under zero magnetic field. We observe that the frequency-doubling voltage transverse to the applied ac current shows a threefold rotational symmetry, whereas it forbids BCD. One of the mechanisms compatible with the symmetry is skew scattering, arising from the inherent chirality of the topological surface state. We introduce the Berry curvature triple, a high-order moment of the Berry curvature, to explain skew scattering under the threefold rotational symmetry. Our work paves the way to obtain a giant second-order nonlinear electric effect in high mobility quantum materials, as the skew scattering surpasses other mechanisms in the clean limit.

An intriguing property of three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) is the existence of surface states with spin-momentum locking, which offers a new frontier of exploration in spintronics. Here, we report the observation of a new type of Hall effect in a 3D TI Bi2Se3 film. The Hall resistance scales linearly with both the applied electric and magnetic fields and exhibits a π/2 angle offset with respect to its longitudinal counterpart, in contrast to the usual angle offset of π/4 between the linear planar Hall effect and the anisotropic magnetoresistance. This novel nonlinear planar Hall effect originates from the conversion of a nonlinear transverse spin current to a charge current due to the concerted actions of spin-momentum locking and time reversal symmetry breaking, which also exists in a wide class of non-centrosymmetric materials with a large span of magnitude. It provides a new way to characterize and utilize the nonlinear spin-to-charge conversion in a variety of topological quantum materials.

Charge-to-spin conversion in various materials is the key for the fundamental understanding of spin-orbitronics and efficient magnetization manipulation. Here we report the direct spatial imaging of current-induced spin accumulation at the channel edges of Bi2Se3 and BiSbTeSe2 topological insulators as well as Pt by a scanning photovoltage microscope at room temperature. The spin polarization is along the out-of-plane direction with opposite signs for the two channel edges. The accumulated spin direction reverses sign upon changing the current direction and the detected spin signal shows a linear dependence on the magnitude of currents, indicating that our observed phenomena are current-induced effects. The spin Hall angle of Bi2Se3, BiSbTeSe2, and Pt is determined to be 0.0085, 0.0616, and 0.0085, respectively. Our results open up the possibility of optically detecting the current-induced spin accumulations, and thus point towards a better understanding of the interaction between spins and circularly polarized light.

We report the observation of efficient charge-to-spin conversion in the three-dimensional topological insulator (TI) Bi2Se3 and Ag bilayer by the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance technique. The spin orbit torque ratio in the Bi2Se3/Ag/CoFeB heterostructure shows a significant enhancement as the Ag thickness increases to ~2 nm and reaches a value of 0.5 for 5 nm Ag, which is ~3 times higher than that of Bi2Se3/CoFeB at room temperature. The observation reveals the interfacial effect of Bi2Se3/Ag exceeds that of the topological surface states (TSS) in the Bi2Se3 layer and plays a dominant role in the charge-to-spin conversion in the Bi2Se3/Ag/CoFeB system. Based on the first-principles calculations, we attribute our observation to the large Rashba-splitting bands which wrap the TSS band and has the same net spin polarization direction as TSS of Bi2Se3.Subsequently, we demonstrate for the first time the Rashba induced magnetization switching in Bi2Se3/Ag/Py with a low current density of 5 5.8 10  A/cm 2 .