DATE2021.11.18 #Press Releases

Effective magnetic field due to in-plane spin

Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.

-Toward Highly Efficient Magnetization Reversal in Perpendicular Magnetization Films

RIKEN

The University of Tokyo

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Summary

International joint research by Kota Kondo, Senior Researcher, and Yoshichika Otani, Team Leader (Professor, Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo) of the Quantum Nanomagnetism Team at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (RIKEN); Satoshi Nakatsuji, Professor, and Tomoya Higo, Associate Professor, in the Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo; and Takahiro Tomita, Assistant Professor, in the Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo The group has succeeded in developing an effective magnetic field (field-like torque: FL torque) using the in-plane spin accumulation (in-plane spin accumulation) on the surface of a thin topological antiferromagnet _Mn3Sn (Mn: manganese, Sn: tin) single crystal.

This achievement is expected to enable the design and development of high-speed and power-saving spintronics devices by using topological magnetic materials as a spin torque source in the future.

In this study, the international research group fabricated spintronic devices consisting of a thin single-crystal topological antiferromagnet _Mn3Sn and a thin ferromagnetic film, and investigated the spin torque originating from the spin accumulation on the _Mn3Sn surface. As a result, we found that the surface-direct spin accumulation acts like a magnetic field (field-like), which has been theoretically predicted so far. Furthermore, the resulting FL torque was found to be several times larger than that of transition metals such as platinum.

This research was published in the online edition of the scientific journal Nature Communications on November 18 (JST).

Figure: Current-induced spin accumulation in the topological antiferromagnet _Mn3Sn

For more information, please visit the RIKEN website.