Field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization through spin-orbit torque in antiferromagnet/ferromagnet/oxide structures
SCIE
SCOPUS
- Title
- Field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization through spin-orbit torque in antiferromagnet/ferromagnet/oxide structures
- Authors
- Oh, YW; Baek, SHC; Kim, YM; Lee, HY; Lee, KD; Yang, CG; Park, ES; Lee, KS; Kim, KW; Go, G; Jeong, JR; Min, BC; Lee, HW; Lee, KJ; Park, BG
- Date Issued
- 2016-10
- Publisher
- NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
- Abstract
- Spin-orbit torques arising from the spin-orbit coupling of non-magnetic heavy metals allow electrical switching of perpendicular magnetization. However, the switching is not purely electrical in laterally homogeneous structures. An extra in-plane magnetic field is indeed required to achieve deterministic switching, and this is detrimental for device applications. On the other hand, if antiferromagnets can generate spin-orbit torques, they may enable all-electrical deterministic switching because the desired magnetic field may be replaced by their exchange bias. Here we report sizeable spin-orbit torques in IrMn/CoFeB/MgO structures. The antiferromagnetic IrMn layer also supplies an in-plane exchange bias field, which enables all-electrical deterministic switching of perpendicular magnetization without any assistance from an external magnetic field. Together with sizeable spin-orbit torques, these features make antiferromagnets a promising candidate for future spintronic devices. We also show that the signs of the spin-orbit torques in various IrMn-based structures cannot be explained by existing theories and thus significant theoretical progress is required.
- URI
- https://oasis.postech.ac.kr/handle/2014.oak/37286
- DOI
- 10.1038/NNANO.2016.109
- ISSN
- 1748-3387
- Article Type
- Article
- Citation
- Nature Nanotechnology, vol. 11, no. 10, page. 878 - +, 2016-10
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- There are no files associated with this item.
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