Tuning the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, spin Hall switching
  current density and domain wall velocity by submonolayer insertion in Ta /
  CoFeB / MgO heterostructures

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

By submonolayer insertion of Au, Pt, or Pd into Ta / CoFeB / MgO / Ta heterostructures we tune the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and the coercive field of the ferromagnetic layer. We demonstrate that this has a major influence on the spin Hall switching current density and its dependence on the external magnetic field. Despite a rather small effective spin Hall angle of \(\theta_\mathrm{SH} \approx -0.07\), we obtain switching current densities as low as \(2 \times 10^{10}\) A/m\(^2\) with a 2 \AA{} Au interlayer. We find that the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction parameter \(D\) is reduced with Au or Pd interlayers, and the perpendicular anisotropy field is reduced by an order of magnitude with the Pd interlayer. The dependence of the switching current density on the current pulse width is quantitatively explained with a domain wall nucleation and propagation model. Interface engineering is thus found to be a suitable route to tailor the current-induced magnetization switching properties of magnetic heterostructures.

Related collections

Most cited references 6

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Dynamics of field-driven domain-wall propagation in ferromagnetic nanowires.

Ronald J. Erskine, Joyce Knutson, Geoffrey Beach … (2005)

Ferromagnetic nanowires are likely to play an important role in future spintronic devices. Magnetic domain walls, which separate regions of opposing magnetization in a nanowire, can be manipulated and used to encode information for storage or to perform logic operations. Owing to their reduced size and dimensionality, the characterization of domain-wall motion is an important problem. To compete with other technologies, high-speed operation, and hence fast wall propagation, is essential. However, the domain-wall dynamics in nanowires has only been investigated in the last five years and some results indicate a drastic slowing down of wall motion in higher magnetic fields. Here we show that the velocity-field characteristic of a domain wall in a nanowire shows two linear regimes, with the wall mobility at high fields reduced tenfold from that at low fields. The transition is marked by a region of negative differential mobility and highly irregular wall motion. These results are in accord with theoretical predictions that, above a threshold field, uniform wall movement gives way to turbulent wall motion, leading to a substantial drop in wall mobility. Our results help resolve contradictory reports of wall propagation velocities in laterally confined geometries, and underscore the importance of understanding and enhancing the breakdown field for practical applications.

0 comments Cited 155 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Magnetization switching by spin-orbit torque in an antiferromagnet/ferromagnet bilayer system

Shunsuke Fukami, Chaoliang Zhang, Samik DuttaGupta … (2015)

Spin-orbit torque (SOT)-induced magnetization switching shows promise for realizing ultrafast and reliable spintronics devices. Bipolar switching of perpendicular magnetization via SOT is achieved under an in-plane magnetic field collinear with an applied current. Typical structures studied so far comprise a nonmagnet/ferromagnet (NM/FM) bilayer, where the spin Hall effect in the NM is responsible for the switching. Here we show that an antiferromagnet/ferromagnet (AFM/FM) bilayer system also exhibits a SOT large enough to switch the magnetization of FM. In this material system, thanks to the exchange-bias effect of the AFM, we observe the switching under no applied field by using an antiferromagnetic PtMn and ferromagnetic Co/Ni multilayer with a perpendicular easy axis. Furthermore, tailoring the stack achieves a memristor-like behaviour where a portion of the reversed magnetization can by controlled in an analogue manner. The AFM/FM system is thus a promising building block for SOT devices as well as providing an attractive pathway towards neuromorphic computing.