Odd symmetry planar Hall effect: A method of detecting current-induced in-plane magnetization switching

Abstract

The robustness of spin–orbit torque (SOT) induced magnetization switching and ease of deposition make type-X devices, where the in-plane easy axis lies perpendicular to the spin polarization, attractive in the field of spintronics. However, universally applicable and straightforward detection of type-X magnetization reversal is still elusive, unlike type-Z switching, which employs DC-based anomalous Hall effect measurement. Here, we demonstrated that the odd planar Hall voltage (O-PHV) signal exhibits an odd symmetry with the application of an external magnetic field which motivates us to develop a reading mechanism for detecting magnetization switching of in-plane magnetized type-X devices. We verified our DC-based reading mechanism in the Pt/Co/NiFe/Pt stack where a thin Co layer is inserted to create dissimilar interfaces about the NiFe layer. Remarkably, the current-induced in-plane fields are found to be significantly large in Pt/Co/NiFe/Pt stack. Furthermore, we employed the O-PHV method to detect the current-induced magnetization switching. The pure DC nature of the writing and reading mechanism of our proposed type-X detection technique through O-PHV makes it the easiest in-plane magnetization detection technique. Moreover, the high repeatability and easy detection of our proposed method will open avenues toward in-plane SOT switching based memory devices and sensors.