Manipulation of Magnetization by Spin–Orbit Torque

Li, Yucai; Edmonds, K. W.; Liu, Xionghua; Zheng, Hang; Wang, Kaiyou

doi:10.1002/qute.201800052

Cited by 56 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 188 publications

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“…This results of Eqs. (26), (27) are remarkably similar to those found analytically in the metal regime of a Rashba ferromagnet model with white-noise disorder 55,56 . The latter is also characterized by identically vanishing antidamping spin-orbit torques and by a completely isotropic field-like torque of the same symmetry.…”

Section: B Metal Regimesupporting

confidence: 78%

Spin-orbit torques in a Rashba honeycomb antiferromagnet

et al. 2019

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Recent experiments on switching antiferromagnetic domains by electric current pulses have attracted a lot of attention to spin-orbit torques in antiferromagnets. In this work, we employ the tight-binding model solver, kwant, to compute spin-orbit torques in a two-dimensional antiferromagnet on a honeycomb lattice with strong spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type. Our model combines spin-orbit interaction, local s-d-like exchange, and scattering of conduction electrons on on-site disorder potential to provide a microscopic mechanism for angular momentum relaxation. We consider two versions of the model: one with preserved and one with broken sublattice symmetry. A nonequilibrium staggered polarization, that is responsible for the so-called Néel spin-orbit torque, is shown to vanish identically in the symmetric model but may become finite if sublattice symmetry is broken. Similarly, anti-damping spin-orbit torques vanish in the symmetric model but become finite and anisotropic in a model with broken sublattice symmetry. As expected, anti-damping torques also reveal a sizable dependence on impurity concentration. Our numerical analysis also confirms symmetry classification of spin-orbit torques and strong torque anisotropy due to in-plane confinement of electron momenta.

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Section: B Metal Regimesupporting

confidence: 78%

Spin-orbit torques in a Rashba honeycomb antiferromagnet

et al. 2019

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“…No magnetic field was applied during the sputtering. The [25]. The resulting spin current can switch the magnetization of PMA Co between the ± z directions, provided that both the current density and Bx are large enough.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tuning Interfacial Spins in Antiferromagnetic–Ferromagnetic–Heavy-Metal Heterostructures via Spin-Orbit Torque

et al. 2020

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Antiferromagnets are outstanding candidates for the next generation of spintronic applications, with great potential for downscaling and decreasing power consumption.Recently, the manipulation of bulk properties of antiferromagnets has been realized by several different approaches. However, the interfacial spin order of antiferromagnets is an important integral part of spintronic devices, thus the successful control of interfacial antiferromagnetic spins is urgently desired. Here, we report the high controllability of interfacial spins in antiferromagnetic / ferromagnetic / heavy metal heterostructure devices using spin-orbit torque (SOT) assisted by perpendicular or longitudinal magnetic fields. Switching of the interfacial spins from one to another direction through

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“…[ 1–5 ] In general, both the STT‐ and the SOT‐induced switching of a FM layer require an injection of out‐of‐plane spin current from nearby layers. [ 6–8 ] For STT‐induced FM switching, particularly, a spin‐polarized current is generated in a magnetic tunneling junction structure when a charge current flows perpendicularly through the stacks, where another FM layer acts as a spin polarizer. [ 9 ] Thus, device instability issues arise since the tunneling barrier layer between the two FM layers is required to transmit large switching currents.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Deterministic Magnetization Switching Using Lateral Spin–Orbit Torque

et al. 2020

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For more than a decade, the electrical switching of ferromagnets (FMs) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), using spin-transfer torque (STT) and more recently spin-orbit torque (SOT), has underpinned the development of fast, low-power-consumption, and high-density spintronic devices. [1][2][3][4][5] In general, both the STT-and the SOT-induced switching of a FM layer require an injection of out-ofplane spin current from nearby layers. [6][7][8] For STT-induced FM switching, particularly, a spin-polarized current is generated in a magnetic tunneling junction structure when a charge current flows perpendicularly through the stacks, where another FM layer acts as a spin polarizer. [9] Thus, device instability issues arise since the tunneling barrier layer between the two FM layers is required to transmit large switching currents.The SOT-induced FM switching, on the other hand, circumvents this problem by using an in-plane switching current. Conventionally, a stack structure consisting of a strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) layer and a FM layer is used, where an in-plane charge current gives rise to an out-of-plane pure spin current due to spin Hall effect in the SOC layer and/or Rashba effect from the perpendicular interfacial inversion asymmetry. [10][11][12][13] The resulting SOT-induced effective magnetic field is in-plane, hence an additional orthogonal in-plane magnetic field is required to realize deterministic switching of a PMA-FM. To date, several approaches for field-free SOT-induced PMA-FM switching have been proposed and demonstrated, such as switching using a polarized ferroelectric substrate induced in-plane spin current gradient, [14][15][16] a wedge oxide capping layer, [17] a tilted PMA layer, [18] a stack with coherent in-plane exchange field, [19][20][21][22][23] an interplay of SOT and STT, [24,25] an inplane-FM/normal metal/PMA-FM trilayer, [26] and a particular low symmetric WTe 2 semimetal. [27] However, the concomitant complexities of these approaches highlight the inherent limitation of the conventional SOT scheme utilizing external outof-plane spin current injection in a perpendicular asymmetric structure.Here, we demonstrate magnetic field-free deterministic current-induced magnetization switching in a PMA Pt/Co/ Pt trilayer subjected to local laser annealing. Without external magnetic field, the direction of current-induced magnetization switching is found to depend on the relative location and Current-induced magnetization switching by spin-orbit torque (SOT) holds considerable promise for next generation ultralow-power memory and logic applications. In most cases, generation of spin-orbit torques has relied on an external injection of out-of-plane spin currents into the magnetic layer, while an external magnetic field along the electric current direction is generally required for realizing deterministic switching by SOT. Here, deterministic current-induced SOT full magnetization switching by lateral spin-orbit torque in zero external magnetic field is reported. The Pt/Co/Pt magn...

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Manipulation of Magnetization by Spin–Orbit Torque

Cited by 56 publications

References 188 publications

Spin-orbit torques in a Rashba honeycomb antiferromagnet

Spin-orbit torques in a Rashba honeycomb antiferromagnet

Tuning Interfacial Spins in Antiferromagnetic–Ferromagnetic–Heavy-Metal Heterostructures via Spin-Orbit Torque

Deterministic Magnetization Switching Using Lateral Spin–Orbit Torque

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