Abstract
Deterministic magnetization switching using spin-orbit torque (SOT) has recently emerged as an efficient means to electrically control the magnetic state of ultrathin magnets. The SOT switching still lacks in oscillatory switching characteristics over time, therefore, it is limited to bipolar operation where a change in polarity of the applied current or field is required for bistable switching. The coherent rotation based oscillatory switching schemes cannot be applied to SOT, because the SOT switching occurs through expansion of magnetic domains. Here we experimentally achieve oscillatory switching in incoherent SOT process by controlling domain wall dynamics. We find that a large field-like component can dynamically influence the domain wall chirality which determines the direction of SOT switching. Consequently, under nanosecond current pulses, the magnetization switches alternatively between the two stable states. By utilizing this oscillatory switching behavior, we demonstrate a unipolar deterministic SOT switching scheme by controlling the current pulse duration.
Highlights
Deterministic magnetization switching using spin-orbit torque (SOT) has recently emerged as an efficient means to electrically control the magnetic state of ultrathin magnets
Our studies reveal that in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) structures with large field-like torque (FLT), the SOT driven incoherent magnetization dynamics and the deterministic switching are greatly influenced by FLT
Another work reported a similar backward SOT switching that was attributed to a small tilt of inplane assist field along the out-of-field direction[45]
Summary
Deterministic magnetization switching using spin-orbit torque (SOT) has recently emerged as an efficient means to electrically control the magnetic state of ultrathin magnets. Under nanosecond current pulses, the magnetization switches alternatively between the two stable states By utilizing this oscillatory switching behavior, we demonstrate a unipolar deterministic SOT switching scheme by controlling the current pulse duration. The operation principle of majority of these electrical techniques is based on the control of the polarity of the external force, such as an electric current or magnetic field, to achieve switching between two magnetic states (bipolar switching techniques). In the context of STT or electric field-induced magnetization switching, unipolar operation was previously demonstrated[7, 9, 16,17,18,19] by driving the magnetization into coherent precessional motion between the two stable states and precisely controlling the time duration for which the external force of fixed polarity was applied. The switching happens by depinning of a a Current
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