Future Spintronic Devices Research Articles

Magnetic and electronic transitions in monolayer electride Gd2C induced by hydrogenation: A first-principles study

The recently synthesized two-dimensional electride ${\mathrm{Gd}}_{2}\mathrm{C}$ was proposed to be a ferromagnetic metal that possesses multiple pairs of Weyl points and may display a large anomalous Hall conductivity [Liu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 187203 (2020)]. In view of its layered structure, here we carry out first-principles studies on the magnetic and electronic properties of ${\mathrm{Gd}}_{2}\mathrm{C}$ in the ultrathin monolayer limit. We find that monolayer ${\mathrm{Gd}}_{2}\mathrm{C}$ remains ferromagnetic like the bulk form and the hydrogenation can effectively tune its magnetism and electronic structure. With one-sided full coverage of hydrogen atoms, monolayer ${\mathrm{Gd}}_{2}\mathrm{C}$ becomes a half-metal with one spin channel around the Fermi level. For two-sided full hydrogenation, monolayer ${\mathrm{Gd}}_{2}\mathrm{C}$ transforms to an antiferromagnetic insulator with a band gap of 0.8 eV. Our studies show that monolayer electride ${\mathrm{Gd}}_{2}\mathrm{C}$ can perform multiple magnetic and electronic transitions with different levels of hydrogenation and may be also adopted to construct a planar heterojunction with selective area adsorption of hydrogen atoms, which has promising applications in future electronic and spintronic devices.

Chiral-Molecule-Based Spintronic Devices.

Spintronics and molecular chemistry have achieved remarkable achievements separately. Their combination can apply the superiority of molecular diversity to intervene or manipulate the spin-related properties. It inevitably brings in a new type of functional devices with a molecular interface, which has become an emerging field in information storage and processing. Normally, spin polarization has to be realized by magnetic materials as manipulated by magnetic fields. Recently, chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) wasdiscovered surprisingly that non-magnetic chiral molecules can generate spin polarization through their structural chirality. Here, the recent progress of integrating the strengths of molecular chemistry and spintronics is reviewed by introducing the experimental results, theoretical models, and device performances of the CISS effect. Compared to normal ferromagnetic metals, CISS originating from a chiral structure has great advantages of high spin polarization, excellent interface, simple preparation process, and low cost. It has the potential to obtain high efficiency of spin injection into metals and semiconductors, getting rid of magnetic fields and ferromagnetic electrodes. The physical mechanisms, unique advantages, and device performances of CISS are sequentially clarified, revealing important issues to current scientific research and industrial applications. This mini-review points out a key technology of information storage for future spintronic devices without magnetic components.

Observation of Thickness-Dependent Exchange Interaction in EuO Ultrathin Films

The electronic structure of single-crystalline EuO (100) ultrathin films, together with their exchange splitting energy (ΔEEX) and ferromagnetic phase transition temperature (TC), was investigated by temperature- and thickness-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Both ΔEEX and TC decreased monotonically with decreasing film thickness. The band shift showed an opposite thickness dependence at the Γ and X points, reflecting the balance of the hybridization between the Eu 4f and O 2p states (super-exchange interaction) and between the Eu 4f, O 2p, and Eu 5d states (indirect-exchange interaction). The observed transition from an indirect energy gap in the bulk to a direct gap in the ultrathin films of the ferromagnetic semiconductor EuO could be potential in future spintronic devices.

Interfacial Exchange Phenomena Driven by Ferromagnetic Domains

AbstractInterfacial proximity effects in antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic (AFM/FM) bilayers control the exchange‐bias (EB) phenomena exploited in most spintronic devices, although still is lack of full understanding. Discordant results, including different exchange‐bias field (HE), coercivity (HC), or blocking temperature (TB) found even in similar systems, are usually ascribed to uncontrolled parameters, namely dissimilar interfacial defects, structure, and thicknesses. Here, it is shown in the very same sample that the magnetic domain structure during the magnetization reversal of the FM layer controls those mentioned effects. Simultaneous transport and vectorial‐resolved magnetic measurements performed in a V2O3/Co system during warming after different field cooling (FC) procedures exhibit a strong dependence on the FC angle and the domain structure of the FM layer. Remarkably, magnetization reversal analysis reveals 35 K of variation in TB and up to a factor of two in HE. These observations can be explained within the random‐field model for the interfacial exchange coupling with a fixed AFM domain structure in contact with a variable (angle‐dependent) FM domain structure. The results highlight the importance of the domain structure and magnetization reversal of the FM layer (not previously considered) in the EB phenomena, with potential to tailor interfacial effects in future spintronic devices.

Toggle-like current-induced Bloch point dynamics of 3D skyrmion strings in a room temperature nanowire

Research into practical applications of magnetic skyrmions, nanoscale solitons with interesting topological and transport properties, has traditionally focused on two dimensional (2D) thin-film systems. However, the recent observation of novel three dimensional (3D) skyrmion-like structures, such as hopfions, skyrmion strings (SkS), skyrmion bundles, and skyrmion braids, motivates the investigation of new designs, aiming to exploit the third spatial dimension for more compact and higher performance spintronic devices in 3D or curvilinear geometries. A crucial requirement of such device schemes is the control of the 3D magnetic structures via charge or spin currents, which has yet to be experimentally observed. In this work, we utilise real-space imaging to investigate the dynamics of a 3D SkS within a nanowire of Co8Zn9Mn3 at room temperature. Utilising single current pulses, we demonstrate current-induced nucleation of a single SkS, and a toggle-like positional switching of an individual Bloch point at the end of a SkS. The observations highlight the possibility to locally manipulate 3D topological spin textures, opening up a range of design concepts for future 3D spintronic devices.

Elucidating the origin of chiroptical activity in chiral 2D perovskites through nano-confined growth

Chiral perovskites are being extensively studied as a promising candidate for spintronic- and polarization-based optoelectronic devices due to their interesting spin-polarization properties. However, the origin of chiroptical activity in chiral perovskites is still unknown, as the chirality transfer mechanism has been rarely explored. Here, through the nano-confined growth of chiral perovskites (MBA2PbI4(1-x)Br4x), we verified that the asymmetric hydrogen-bonding interaction between chiral molecular spacers and the inorganic framework plays a key role in promoting the chiroptical activity of chiral perovskites. Based on this understanding, we observed remarkable asymmetry behavior (absorption dissymmetry of 2.0 × 10−3 and anisotropy factor of photoluminescence of 6.4 × 10−2 for left- and right-handed circularly polarized light) in nanoconfined chiral perovskites even at room temperature. Our findings suggest that electronic interactions between building blocks should be considered when interpreting the chirality transfer phenomena and designing hybrid materials for future spintronic and polarization-based devices.

Mosaic growth induced magnetic anisotropy in double perovskite PrBaCo2O5+δ thin films

Controlling crystal structure is one of the most crucial steps for tuning the physical properties in layered perovskite oxides. The growth of mosaic-patterned double perovskite PrBaCo2O5+δ (PBCO) thin films was achieved to study the growth dynamics and the effect on the magnetic anisotropy (MA). High-resolution X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy studies indicate the crystal structures of PBCO thin films are highly oriented with three variants, i.e., <100>(013) grains tilted around ±18° away from [00l] direction along a or b axis, <110>(001) domains rotated 45° along c axis, and common cube-on-cube <100>(001) epitaxy. The MA transformation to isotropic and an anomalous anisotropic magnetoresistance were observed in the films with the mosaic-patterned nanostructures. These evidences not only highlight the correlation between nanostructures and physical properties in perovskite systems, but also lay out the new avenues to manipulate the MA through controlling the preferred oriented nanostructures, which paves the way to create future nanoelectronics and spintronic devices via nanostructure design.

Perfect spin-filtering effect in molecular junctions based on half-metallic penta-hexa-graphene nanoribbons

The design and control of spintronic devices is a research hotspot in the field of electronics, and pure carbon-based materials provide new opportunities for the construction of electronic devices with excellent performance. Using density functional theory in combination with nonequilibrium Green’s functions method, we design spin filter devices based on Penta-hexa-graphene (PHG) nanoribbons—a carbon nanomaterial in which the intrinsic magnetic moments combines with edge effects leading to a half-metallic property. Spin-resolved electronic transport studies show that such carbon-based devices can achieve nearly 100% spin filtering effect at low bias voltages. Such SEF can resist the influence of hydrogen passivation at different positions, but hardly survive under a hydrogen-rich environment. Our analysis show that the perfect SEF transport properties are caused by the magnetic and electronic properties of PHG nanoribbons, especially the magnetic moments on the quasi-sp 3 carbons. These interesting results indicate that PHG nanomaterials have very prominent application prospects in future spintronic devices.

Transition of laser-induced terahertz spin currents from torque- to conduction-electron-mediated transport

Spin transport is crucial for future spintronic devices operating at bandwidths up to the terahertz (THz) range. In F|N thin-film stacks made of a ferro/ferrimagnetic layer F and a normal-metal layer N, spin transport is mediated by (1) spin-polarized conduction electrons and/or (2) torque between electron spins. To identify a cross-over from (1) to (2), we study laser-driven spin currents in F|Pt stacks where F consists of model materials with different degrees of electrical conductivity. For the magnetic insulators YIG, GIG and maghemite, identical dynamics is observed. It arises from the THz interfacial spin Seebeck effect (SSE), is fully determined by the relaxation of the electrons in the metal layer and provides an estimate of the spin-mixing conductance of the GIG/Pt interface. Remarkably, in the half-metallic ferrimagnet Fe3O4 (magnetite), our measurements reveal two spin-current components with opposite direction. The slower, positive component exhibits SSE dynamics and is assigned to torque-type magnon excitation of the A- and B-spin sublattices of Fe3O4. The faster, negative component arises from the pyro-spintronic effect and can consistently be assigned to ultrafast demagnetization of e-sublattice minority-spin hopping electrons. This observation supports the magneto-electronic model of Fe3O4. In general, our results provide a new route to the contact-free separation of torque- and conduction-electron-mediated spin currents.

Current-driven dynamics of skyrmion bubbles in achiral uniaxial magnets

We report dynamics of skyrmion bubbles driven by spin-transfer torque in achiral ferromagnetic nanostripes using micromagnetic simulations. In a three-dimensional uniaxial ferromagnet with a quality factor that is smaller than 1, the skyrmion bubble is forced to stay at the central nanostripe by a repulsive force from the geometry border. The coherent motion of skyrmion bubbles in the nanostripe can be realized by increasing the quality factor to ∼ 3.8. Our results should propel the design for future spintronic devices such as artificial neural computing and racetrack memory based on dipole-stabilized skyrmion bubbles.

Enhancement of Damping-Like Field and Field-Free Switching in Pt/(Co/Pt)/PtMn Trilayer Films Prepared in the Presence of an In Situ Magnetic Field.

The current-induced magnetization switching and damping-like field in Pt/(Co/Pt)/PtMn trilayer films prepared with and without an in situ in-plane field of 600 Oe have been studied systematically. In the presence of the in situ field, a small in-plane bias field (HEB) is observed for films with PtMn thickness ≥5 nm, while there is no observable HEB for PtMn thickness ≤3 nm. Nevertheless, a field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization of Co/Pt is observed for all the films with the PtMn thickness of 1-7 nm. On the other hand, without the presence of the in situ field, HEB and field-free switching are not seen. Furthermore, the damping-like fields (HDL) are much enhanced in the presence of the in situ field, and the increasement can be up to 47%. We further revealed that the spin current is mainly from the Pt layer, while the noncollinear spin configuration at the interface caused by the in situ in-plane field may play a role in the HDL enhancement. Micromagnetic simulations indicate that the canting of antiferromagnet PtMn spins plays an important role in the field-free switching. Our findings clarify the source of spin current in the trilayer films and provide an easier approach to field-free switching and HDL enhancement for future low-power spintronic devices.

Chirality-Induced Noncollinear Magnetization and Asymmetric Domain-Wall Propagation in Hydrogenated CoPd Thin Films.

Array-patterned CoPd-based heterostructures are created through e-beam lithography and plasma pretreatment that induces oxidation with depth gradient in the CoPd alloy films, breaking the central symmetry of the structure. Effects on the magnetic properties of the follow-up hydrogenation of the thin film are observed via magneto-optic Kerr effect microscopy. The system exhibits a strong vertical and lateral antiferromagnetic coupling in the perpendicular component between the areas with and without plasma pretreatment, and asymmetric domain-wall propagation in the plasma-pretreated areas during magnetization reversal. These phenomena exhibit evident magnetic chirality and can be interpreted with the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida coupling and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). The sample processing demonstrated in this study allows easy incorporation of lithography techniques that can define areas with or without DMI to create intricate magnetic patterns on the sample, which provides an avenue toward more sophisticated control of canted spin textures in future spintronic devices.

Pseudo magnetic properties and evidence for vortex state in Fe2NiGe Heusler alloy thin films

We report on the anisotropy, pseudo magnetic properties and formation of vortex state in Fe2NiGe thin films. From the torque measurements, estimated anisotropy constants K1 and K2 are found to be 4.47 × 103 J/m3 and −1.98 × 102 J/m3 respectively. Pseudo magnetic properties such as pseudo hysteresis work and pseudo remanence work infer that motion of domain wall in Fe2NiGe is rather smooth. The crest height and trough depth coefficient from the second stage of magnetization curves are estimated and are found to be 9.44 × 106 (A/m).mT and 8.76 × 106 (A/m).mT respectively. First order reversal curves infer switching field distribution is very small, which infers that less dislocations and more grain size. Indeed, the vortex state is evident from the contour graph of the first order reversal curves. We believe present results would be helpful for the future spintronic devices based on Heusler alloy thin films.

Topological surface state enhanced ultrafast spin dynamics of Fe/Bi2Se3 heterostructures

Topological insulators (TIs) with distinct topological surface states (TSSs) have served as fertile ground to investigate spintronics and quantum information devices. Spin transport properties of ferromagnet (FM)/TI heterostructures have been revealed due to the spin-momentum-locked TSS. The role of the TSS on laser-induced ultrafast spin dynamics, however, is not well understood. Here, we find that the TSS can not only significantly accelerate the ultrafast demagnetization but can also enhance the Gilbert damping factor of $\mathrm{Fe}/{\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$ heterostructures. We conclude that the TSS enhanced ultrafast spin dynamics is attributed to the strong hybridization of Fe and ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$ orbitals near the Fermi level. Our findings suggest that the manipulation of ultrafast spin dynamics of a FM/TI via the TSS can open an avenue to utilize future topological spintronic devices or quantum information processing approaching femtosecond timescales.

Regulating Interfacial Spin Hall Conductivity with Ferroelectricity.

We report a new physical phenomenon of active and enhanced control of the spin Hall conductivity (SHC) in a family of metal-ferroelectric multilayers. Rather than the direction of the built-in electric field, such ferroelectric regulation of SHC originates from the drastic change of the interfacial electronic state along with its intrinsic Berry phase near the Fermi level due to the distinct hybridization between the metal film and substrate when the ferroelectric polarization reverses. Using Pt/PbZrTiO3 multilayers as a representative model, we demonstrate the controllability of a large magnitude and even the sign of SHC in the Pt film at the two interfaces with an antitype conducting carrier in a ferroelectric substrate. The interfacial Rashba effect plays a role in contributing to the change of SHC through spin-projected band analysis. The present work makes a fundamental theoretical discovery and opens up a new direction to manipulate spin-charge conversion of thin-film layered structures by ferroelectricity, which is crucial for designing future electric and spintronic devices.

Highly Tunable Magnetic Phases in Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Fe1/3+δNbS2

A change in magnetic moment configurations as a function of iron ratio in Fe${}_{1/3+\ensuremath{\delta}}$NbS${}_{2}$ underlies its current-induced resistance switching, a key insight for using this and similar materials in future spintronic devices.

On-Chip Coherent Transduction between Magnons and Acoustic Phonons in Cavity Magnomechanics

Magnons, namely spin waves, are collective spin excitations in ferromagnets, and their control through coupling with other excitations is a key technology for future hybrid spintronic devices. Although strong coupling has been demonstrated with microwave photonic structures, an alternative approach permitting high density integration and minimized electromagnetic crosstalk is required. Here we report a planar cavity magnomechanical system, where the cavity of surface acoustic waves enhances the spatial and spectral power density to thus implement magnon-phonon coupling at room temperature. Excitation of spin-wave resonance involves significant acoustic power absorption, whereas the collective spin motion reversely exerts a back-action force on the cavity dynamics. The cavity frequency and quality-factor are significantly modified by the back-action effect, and the resultant cooperativity exceeds unity, suggesting coherent interaction between magnons and phonons. The demonstration of a chip-scale magnomechanical system paves the way to the development of novel spin-acoustic technologies for classical and quantum applications.

Large exchange bias and spin pumping in ultrathin IrMn/Co system for spintronic device applications

Few nanometers thick antiferromagnetic/Ferromagnetic bilayer based spintronic devices have emerged as a potential nanostructured bilayer for achieving ultrahigh-speed magnetization switching, low power dissipation, terahertz magnetization dynamics, and are compatible with CMOS technology. The systematic investigation of the exchange bias (EB) in the Ir22Mn78/Co system is performed by varying Co thickness (tCo) in the range of 6–20 nm with 10 nm thin Ir22Mn78 layer on top, using longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr effect (L-MOKE) and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements at room temperature. Here, we report the occurrence of a record high EB field in this bilayer system, which is 13.11 mT (9.04 mT) statically (dynamically) for 6 nm thick of Co. The percentage change of 313.5 % (251.7%) in exchange bias field is found through FMR (MOKE) measurements with respect to tCo variation from 20 to 6 nm. Additionally, the spin pumping mechanism is also studied in the above stated material system by using the FMR technique. The observed linear dependence of effective Gilbert’s damping with respect to the 1/tCo, indicates the occurrence of spin pumping phenomena. The study suggests that tunability of both the exchange interaction and spin pumping behavior in this Ir22Mn78/Co system, makes this system suitable for future antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.

Enhanced spin accumulation in nano-pillar-based lateral spin valve using spin reservoir effect

Lateral spin valves are ideal nanostructures for investigating spin-transport physics phenomena and promoting the development of future spintronic devices owing to dissipation-less pure spin current. The magnitude of the spin accumulation signal is well understood as a barometer for characterizing spin current devices. Here, we develop a novel fabrication method for lateral spin valves based on ferromagnetic nanopillar structures using a multi-angle deposition technique. We demonstrate that the spin-accumulation signal is effectively enhanced by reducing the lateral dimension of the nonmagnetic spin channel. The obtained results can be quantitatively explained by the confinement of the spin reservoir by considering spin diffusion into the leads. The temperature dependence of the spin accumulation signal and the influence of the thermal spin injection under a high bias current are also discussed.

Magnetic Phase Transitions and Magnetoelastic Coupling in a Two-Dimensional Stripy Antiferromagnet.

Materials with a quasi-one-dimensional stripy magnetic order often exhibit low crystal and magnetic symmetries, thus allowing the presence of various energy coupling terms and giving rise to macroscopic interplay between spin, charge, and phonon. In this work, we performed optical, electrical and magnetic characterizations combined with first-principles calculations on a van der Waals antiferromagnetic insulator chromium oxychloride (CrOCl). We detected the subtle phase transition behaviors of exfoliated CrOCl under varying temperature and magnetic field and clarified its controversial spin structures. We found that the antiferromagnetism and its air stability persist down to few-layer samples, making it a promising candidate for future 2D spintronic devices. Additionally, we verified the magnetoelastic coupling effect in CrOCl, allowing for the potential manipulation of the magnetic states via electric field or strain. These virtues of CrOCl provide us with an ideal platform for fundamental research on spin-charge, spin-phonon coupling, and spin-interactions.