Strong Orientation-Dependent Spin-Orbit Torque in Thin Films of the Antiferromagnet Mn2Au
Strong Orientation-Dependent Spin-Orbit Torque in Thin Films of the Antiferromagnet Mn2Au
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反铁磁体 Mn2Au 薄膜中强方向相关的自旋轨道扭矩
DOI：
10.1103/physrevapplied.9.054028
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发表时间：
2018-05-18
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Song, C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zhou, X. F.;Zhang, J.;Song, C.
反铁磁体具有净磁矩为零、抗干扰性强、开关速度超快等特点，在高密度信息存储领域具有潜在的竞争优势。具有相反自旋亚晶格的体心四方反铁磁体Mn2Au是一种独特的Neel级自旋-轨道-扭矩(SOT)开关金属材料。研究了用简单磁控溅射方法制备的(103)、(101)和(204)Mn2Au准外延薄膜的SOT开关。我们在室温下用短电流脉冲对所有制备的Mn2Au薄膜进行了电流感生反铁磁矩转换，而不同取向的薄膜表现出了不同的开关特性。由于磁晶各向异性能可以忽略不计，在Mn2Au(103)薄膜中实现了与方向无关的可逆开关，而对于Mn2Au(101)和(204)薄膜，由于磁晶各向异性能量的存在，这种可逆开关是可逆的，但在最初的开关循环中，当电流沿硬轴方向施加时，由于磁晶各向异性能量的存在，开关是可逆的，但在沿硬轴方向施加电流时，开关是可逆的。除了基本意义之外，无论是铁磁体还是反铁磁体都无法实现的强取向相关SOT开关，为自旋电子学提供了多功能性。
Antiferromagnets with zero net magnetic moment, strong anti-interference, and ultrafast switching speed are potentially competitive in high-density information storage. The body-centered tetragonal antiferromagnet Mn2Au with opposite-spin sublattices is a unique metallic material for Neel-order spin-orbit-torque (SOT) switching. We investigate the SOT switching in quasiepitaxial (103), (101) and (204) Mn2Au films prepared by a simple magnetron sputtering method. We demonstrate current-induced antiferromagnetic moment switching in all of the prepared Mn2Au films by using a short current pulse at room temperature, whereas differently oriented films exhibit distinguished switching characters. A direction-independent reversible switching is attained in Mn2Au (103) films due to negligible magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy, while for Mn2Au (101) and (204) films, the switching is invertible with the current applied along the in-plane easy axis and its vertical axis, but it becomes attenuated seriously during initial switching circles when the current is applied along the hard axis because of the existence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. Besides the fundamental significance, the strong orientation-dependent SOT switching, which is not realized, irrespective of ferromagnet and antiferromagnet, provides versatility for spintronics.