Evidence of the Topological Hall Effect in Pt/Antiferromagnetic Insulator Bilayers.

Abstract

The topological Hall effect has been a primary indicator of nontrivial spin textures in magnetic materials. We observe the evidence of the topological Hall effect in Pt/Cr_{2}O_{3} bilayers grown on Al_{2}O_{3}(0001) and Al_{2}O_{3}(112[over ¯]0), where the Cr_{2}O_{3} epitaxial film is an antiferromagnetic insulator. The Pt/Cr_{2}O_{3} bilayers exhibit topological Hall resistivity for Cr_{2}O_{3} thicknesses below 6nm near and above room temperature, which is above the Néel temperature of Cr_{2}O_{3}, revealing the key role of thermal fluctuations in the formation of spin textures. The similarity of topological Hall signals in (0001)- and (112[over ¯]0)-oriented Cr_{2}O_{3} films indicates that the emergence of spin textures is insensitive to crystalline orientation.