Abstract

Reducing critical current density (JC) of current-driven magnetization switching via power-efficient spin–orbit torque (SOT) is a key challenge in spin-based memory and logic devices. The Pt1-xMnx alloy shows prospect for enhancing the damping-like SOT efficiency (ξDL) while maintaining relatively low resistivity and power consumption. In this work, we investigated the Mn concentration x dependence of ξDL in Pt1-xMnx/Co bilayer and observed a nonmonotonic variation with the maximum ξDL ≈ 0.25 appearing around x = 0.2. The increase of the Pt1-xMnx layer resistivity is the main contribution to the enhancement of ξDL. Mn atoms doped in Pt not only modulate ξDL originating from the spin Hall effect of the Pt1-xMnx layer, but also affect the interfacial phenomena at the Pt1-xMnx/Co interface. We find that the related interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) is also tunable by x with the maximum appearing around x = 0.15. The significantly reduced JC of Pt1-xMnx/Co bilayer is mainly due to the enhancement of ξDL and the attenuation of effective perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energy density. Meanwhile, Pt1-xMnx/Co bilayer maintains low power consumption and necessary thermal stability. Our work highlights the potential of alloying Pt with Mn as a valuable means to achieve high-performance SOT spintronic devices.

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