The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), one of the origins of chiral magnetism, is currently attracting considerable attention in the research community focusing on applied magnetism and spintronics. For future applications, an accurate measurement of its strength is indispensable. Here the state of the art of measurement techniques involving the coefficient of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, the DMI constant D, is reviewed, with a focus on systems where the interaction arises from the interface between two materials (i.e., the interfacial DMI). An overview of the experimental techniques, as well as their theoretical background and models for the quantification of the DMI constant, is given. The measurement techniques are divided into three categories: (a) domain-wall-based measurements, (b) spin-wave-based measurements, and (c) spin-orbit torque-based measurements. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are analyzed, and D values at different interfaces are compared. The review aims to obtain a better understanding of the applicability of the different techniques to various stacks and of the origin of apparent disagreements among literature values.

We present a setup allowing to characterize the local irreversible behavior of soft magnetic samples. It is achieved by modifying a conventional ac induction magnetometer in order to measure first-order reversal curves (FORCs), a magnetostatic characterization technique. The required modifications were performed on a home-made setup allowing high precision measurement, with sensibility less than 0.005 Oe for the applied field and 10(-6) emu for the magnetization. The main crucial point for the FORCs accuracy is the constancy of the applied field sweep rate, because of the magnetic viscosity. Therefore, instead of the common way to work at constant frequency, each FORC is acquired at a slightly different frequency, in order to keep the field variation constant in time. The obtained results exhibit the consequences of magnetic viscosity, thus opening up the path of studying this phenomenon for soft magnetic materials.

In this article we analyze by modeling two possible mechanisms for magnetization switching using spin orbit torques, which have been reported to cause field-free deterministic switching in experiments. Here we compare the field-free magnetization switching due to a tilt of the anisotropy direction against the use of an antiferromagnetic bias field. Simple results obtained analytically show that a bias field not only causes the magnetization reversal but also reduces the corresponding energy barrier.The critical current required for magnetization switching is analyzed on the basis of a macrospin model. It is shown that although the field-free deterministic switching caused by a tilt of the anisotropy is more robust than the bias field in the development of memory elements, a compromise between requirements has to be adopted when selecting the parameters for specific applications.

The spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) of Pt/FeCoB bilayers with in-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy was analysed with respect to a second order effect in the sensing current which acts, through the spin Hall effect in Pt, as a torque on the magnetization of the ferromagnetic layer and changes slightly its configuration. This leads to a small current dependent shift of the SMR curves in field that allows, in structures with a multidomain state (e.g. Hall bars), the determination of the sign of the magnetic remanence. The SMR measurements were performed as a function of the Pt thickness and the spin Hall angle, the diffusion length and the field-like and damping like SOT efficiency were determined. The results were compared with the values obtained from harmonic Hall voltage and SOT-ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements and show a good agreement.