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Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers
The spin–orbit torques (SOTs) in the heavy metal (HM)/ferromagnetic metal (FM) structure hold promise for next-generation low-power and high-density spintronic memory and logic applications. For the SOT switching of a perpendicular magnetization, an external magnetic field is inevitable for breaking...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9182025/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35683740 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano12111887 |
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author | Cui, Baoshan Zhu, Zengtai Wu, Chuangwen Guo, Xiaobin Nie, Zhuyang Wu, Hao Guo, Tengyu Chen, Peng Zheng, Dongfeng Yu, Tian Xi, Li Zeng, Zhongming Liang, Shiheng Zhang, Guangyu Yu, Guoqiang Wang, Kang L. |
author_facet | Cui, Baoshan Zhu, Zengtai Wu, Chuangwen Guo, Xiaobin Nie, Zhuyang Wu, Hao Guo, Tengyu Chen, Peng Zheng, Dongfeng Yu, Tian Xi, Li Zeng, Zhongming Liang, Shiheng Zhang, Guangyu Yu, Guoqiang Wang, Kang L. |
author_sort | Cui, Baoshan |
collection | PubMed |
description | The spin–orbit torques (SOTs) in the heavy metal (HM)/ferromagnetic metal (FM) structure hold promise for next-generation low-power and high-density spintronic memory and logic applications. For the SOT switching of a perpendicular magnetization, an external magnetic field is inevitable for breaking the mirror symmetry, which is not practical for high-density nanoelectronics applications. In this work, we study the current-induced field-free SOT switching and SOT perpendicular effective field ([Formula: see text]) in a variety of laterally asymmetric multilayers, where the asymmetry is introduced by growing the FM layer in a wedge shape. We show that the design of structural asymmetry by wedging the FM layer is a universal scheme for realizing field-free SOT switching. Moreover, by comparing the FM layer thickness dependence of ([Formula: see text]) in different samples, we show that the efficiency (β = [Formula: see text] /J, J is the current density) is sensitive to the HM/FM interface and the FM layer thickness. The sign of β for thin FM thicknesses is related to the spin Hall angle (θ(SH)) of the HM layer attached to the FM layer. β changes its sign with the thickness of the FM layer increasing, which may be caused by the thickness dependence of the work function of FM. These results show the possibility of engineering the deterministic field-free switching by combining the symmetry breaking and the materials design of the HM/FM interface. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9182025 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-91820252022-06-10 Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers Cui, Baoshan Zhu, Zengtai Wu, Chuangwen Guo, Xiaobin Nie, Zhuyang Wu, Hao Guo, Tengyu Chen, Peng Zheng, Dongfeng Yu, Tian Xi, Li Zeng, Zhongming Liang, Shiheng Zhang, Guangyu Yu, Guoqiang Wang, Kang L. Nanomaterials (Basel) Article The spin–orbit torques (SOTs) in the heavy metal (HM)/ferromagnetic metal (FM) structure hold promise for next-generation low-power and high-density spintronic memory and logic applications. For the SOT switching of a perpendicular magnetization, an external magnetic field is inevitable for breaking the mirror symmetry, which is not practical for high-density nanoelectronics applications. In this work, we study the current-induced field-free SOT switching and SOT perpendicular effective field ([Formula: see text]) in a variety of laterally asymmetric multilayers, where the asymmetry is introduced by growing the FM layer in a wedge shape. We show that the design of structural asymmetry by wedging the FM layer is a universal scheme for realizing field-free SOT switching. Moreover, by comparing the FM layer thickness dependence of ([Formula: see text]) in different samples, we show that the efficiency (β = [Formula: see text] /J, J is the current density) is sensitive to the HM/FM interface and the FM layer thickness. The sign of β for thin FM thicknesses is related to the spin Hall angle (θ(SH)) of the HM layer attached to the FM layer. β changes its sign with the thickness of the FM layer increasing, which may be caused by the thickness dependence of the work function of FM. These results show the possibility of engineering the deterministic field-free switching by combining the symmetry breaking and the materials design of the HM/FM interface. MDPI 2022-05-31 /pmc/articles/PMC9182025/ /pubmed/35683740 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano12111887 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Cui, Baoshan Zhu, Zengtai Wu, Chuangwen Guo, Xiaobin Nie, Zhuyang Wu, Hao Guo, Tengyu Chen, Peng Zheng, Dongfeng Yu, Tian Xi, Li Zeng, Zhongming Liang, Shiheng Zhang, Guangyu Yu, Guoqiang Wang, Kang L. Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers |
title | Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers |
title_full | Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers |
title_fullStr | Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers |
title_full_unstemmed | Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers |
title_short | Comprehensive Study of the Current-Induced Spin–Orbit Torque Perpendicular Effective Field in Asymmetric Multilayers |
title_sort | comprehensive study of the current-induced spin–orbit torque perpendicular effective field in asymmetric multilayers |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9182025/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35683740 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano12111887 |
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