Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction Research Articles

Characterizing an effective magnetic field during asymmetric creep motion of Dzyaloshinskii domain walls

Understanding the role of Landau Lifshitz Gilbert dynamics in describing magnetic domain wall (DW) motion in the creep regime is complicated by the presence of static pinning, but has regained interest due to recently observed directional growth in thin films with significant interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. Here, we delve into this directional domain growth behaviour in Pt/Co/Ni-based multi-layers under the influence of combined longitudinal and perpendicular magnetic fields via magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy. Observations, including the onset field, μ0Honset , where the growth direction reverses by 180 degrees, align with the transient steady-state model predictions. By systematically varying the applied perpendicular magnetic field, we estimate the strength of an effective perpendicular field that acts on the DW during creep movement, which was expectedly found to be much smaller than the applied external field itself. This work further adds to the complexity of asymmetric domain expansion in the creep regime, but also highlights the range of magnetic information that can be extracted from careful analysis of this behavior.

Asymmetric magnetization switching and programmable complete Boolean logic enabled by long-range intralayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

After decades of efforts, some fundamental physics for electrical switching of magnetization is still missing. Here, we report the discovery of the long-range intralayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) effect, which is the chiral coupling of orthogonal magnetic domains within the same magnetic layer via the mediation of an adjacent heavy metal layer. The effective magnetic field of the long-range intralayer DMI on the perpendicular magnetization is out-of-plane and varies with the interfacial DMI constant, the applied in-plane magnetic fields, and the magnetic anisotropy distribution. Striking consequences of the effect include asymmetric current/field switching of perpendicular magnetization, hysteresis loop shift of perpendicular magnetization in the absence of in-plane direct current, and sharp in-plane magnetic field switching of perpendicular magnetization. Utilizing the intralayer DMI, we demonstrate programable, complete Boolean logic operations within a single spin-orbit torque device. These results will stimulate investigation of the long-range intralayer DMI effect in a variety of spintronic devices.

Aging of magnetic skyrmions in a confined geometry

Magnetic configurations in a hexagonal nanostructure have been simulated using the Monte Carlo method. It has been found that a multiple-skyrmion state is stabilized in the system by a relatively strong interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. An aging effect takes place in the thermal evolution of the multiple-skyrmion state. The size and the shape of the skyrmions tend to become uniform with increasing temperature.

Spin–orbit torque true random number generator with thermal stability

Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) plays a pivotal role in spin–orbit torque (SOT)-induced magnetization switching, notably seen in deterministic switching even in the absence of an external magnetic field at 0 K. However, in SOT devices operating at room temperature, thermal fluctuations contribute significantly to magnetization switching due to the altered energy profile caused by DMI. In this work, we unveil that unlike the deterministic magnetization switching observed at 0 K, SOT-induced magnetization switching assisted by DMI is highly stochastic. Following the SOT-induced nucleation of a domain wall (DW), thermal fluctuations can induce rapid back-and-forth DW motion under the influence of a current pulse, resulting in stochastic switching. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the switching probability remains stable as the temperature increases. These results illustrate that SOT-induced magnetization switching assisted by DMI is well-suited for a true random number generator with robust thermal stability.

Field-Free Switching of Perpendicular Magnetization in an Ultrathin Epitaxial Magnetic Insulator.

For energy-efficient magnetic memories, switching of perpendicular magnetization by spin-orbit torque (SOT) appears to be a promising solution. This SOT switching requires the assistance of an in-plane magnetic field to break the symmetry. Here, we demonstrate the field-free SOT switching of a perpendicularly magnetized thulium iron garnet (Tm3Fe5O12, TmIG). The polarity of the switching loops, clockwise or counterclockwise, is determined by the direction of the initial current pulses, in contrast with field-assisted switching where the polarity is controlled by the direction of the magnetic field. From Brillouin light scattering, we determined the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) induced by the Pt-TmIG interface. We will discuss the possible origins of field-free switching and the roles of the interfacial DMI and cubic magnetic anisotropy of TmIG. This discussion is substantiated by magnetotransport, Kerr microscopy, and micromagnetic simulations. Our observation of field-free electrical switching of a magnetic insulator is an important milestone for low-power spintronic devices.

Stabilization and helicity control of hybrid magnetic skyrmion

The hybrid skyrmion, a type of magnetic skyrmion with intermediate helicity between Bloch and Néel skyrmion, has gained more attraction. It is tolerant toward the skyrmion Hall effect and a potential candidate for quantum bits. We investigated the stabilization and helicity control of the hybrid skyrmion in a two-dimensional magnetic system using an analytical model and micromagnetic simulation. We look at the interplaying factors of the bulk (Db ) and interfacial (Di ) Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions (DMI) along with the dipolar interaction. We show that the hybrid skyrmion can stabilize through the interplay between interfacial DMI and either bulk DMI or dipolar interaction. We can also control the helicity of the hybrid skyrmion by tuning the ratio of Di/Db when there is no dipolar interaction, or simply by adjusting the Di when the Db is absent. Our results suggest that hybrid skyrmions can exist within 0<|Di|<0.4 mJ m−2 for Co-based magnetic systems.

Spin Waves in Ferromagnetic Nanorings with Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya Interactions: II. Directional Effects

Spin Waves in Ferromagnetic Nanorings with Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya Interactions: II. Directional Effects

Interfacial DMI in Fe/Pt thin films grown on different buffer layers

We study the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions (i-DMI) of Fe/Pt bilayers grown on Si substrates with MgO, SiO2, or Ta each as a buffer layer on the basis of wave-vector-resolved Brillouin light scattering (BLS) measurement. The obtained i-DMI energy values for Fe/Pt on MgO, Ta, and SiO2 buffer layers are 0.359, 0.321, and 0.274 mJ/m2, respectively. The large i-DMI value observed in Fe/Pt system on the MgO buffer layer can be attributed to the good interfacial quality and the Rshaba effect at the MgO/Fe interface. Moreover, the MgO/Fe/Pt system, benefiting from better sample quality, exhibits a lower damping factor. Furthermore, layer-resolved first-principles calculations are carried out to gain a more in-depth understanding of the origin of the i-DMI in the Fe/Pt system. The results indicate that in the Fe(110)/Pt(111) system, the substantial DMI energy between Fe spins at the interface is related to a significant change in spin–orbit coupling (SOC) energy in the neighboring Pt layer. In contrast, for the MgO(002)/Fe(002) system, both the DMI and its related SOC energy are concentrated at the interfacial Fe layer. Our investigation will provide a valuable insight into the spintronic community in exploring novel devices with chirality dependence.

Micromagnetic modeling of SOT-MRAM dynamics

We present a flexible and efficient approach to modeling the magnetization dynamics in modern SOT-MRAM cells, by coupling charge, spin, and magnetization dynamics in a three-dimensional framework. We expand on existing literature, to obtain spin current boundary conditions for modeling the Rashba-Edelstein effect. We compute the spin–orbit torques originating from both, the spin Hall and Rashba-Edelstein effect, and show that our model can reproduce experimental results for the thickness dependence of the spin torques in an Ir/CoFeB bilayer structure. Furthermore, we verify our approach by simulating magnetization reversal in field-free SOT-MRAM cells, and show that with the inclusion of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, we obtain domain wall motion similar to previously reported experimental results.

Designing Layered 2D Skyrmion Lattices in Moiré Magnetic Heterostructures

AbstractSkyrmions are promising for the next generation of spintronic and magnonic devices, but their zero‐field stability and controlled nucleation through chiral interactions remain challenging. In this theoretical study, the potential of moiré magnetic heterostructures to generate ordered skyrmion lattices from the stacking‐dependent magnetism in 2D magnets is explored. Heterostructures formed by twisting ultrathin CrBr3 films on top of CrI3 substrates are considered, assuming a moderate interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. At large moiré periodicity and appropriate substrate thickness, a moiré skyrmion lattice emerges in the interfacial CrBr3 layer due to the weaker exchange interactions in CrBr3 compared to CrI3. This lattice is then projected to the remaining layers of the CrBr3 film via chiral interlayer exchange fields. By varying the pristine stacking configurations within the ultrathin CrBr3 film, layered ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic skyrmion lattices without the need for a permanent magnetic field are realized. These findings suggest the possibility of creating ordered skyrmion lattices in moiré magnetic heterostructures, enabling further exploration of their fundamental properties and technological relevance.

Chirality-dependent energy induced by spin-orbit torque-driven artificial spin texture

Recently, vast research has been under investigation on the role of chirality in magnetization dynamics, an area that currently lacks a comprehensive understanding. To gain further insight into the importance of chirality, we explore the effects of varying the degree of chirality. To investigate these effects, we have fabricated samples with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy symmetry breaking through local helium ion irradiation with various azimuthal angles and degrees of irradiation. In this system, the spin-orbit torque can induce artificial spin texture, and our azimuthal angle and degree of chirality dependent results reveal a clear cosine dependence and a nonlinear increase, respectively. It implies the system not only follows the energy contribution of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction but also has a nonlinear impact depending on anisotropy asymmetry induced chirality differences. These experimental observations are consistent with our theoretical model and micromagnetic simulations, supporting our experimental results. Overall, our findings provide further insights into the role of chirality in magnetization dynamics and may have important implications for the development of future magnetic devices.

Infinite critical boson non-Fermi liquid on heterostructure interfaces

We study the emergence of non-Fermi liquid on heterostructure interfaces where there exists an infinite number of critical boson modes accounting for the magnetic fluctuations in two spatial dimensions. The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction naturally arises in magnetic interactions due to the absence of inversion symmetry, resulting in a degenerate contour for the low-energy bosonic modes in the momentum space which simultaneously becomes critical near the magnetic phase transition. The itinerant electrons are scattered by the critical boson contour via the Yukawa coupling. When the boson contour is much smaller than the Fermi surface, it is shown that, there exists a regime with a dynamic critical exponent {z=3} while the boson contour still controls the low-energy magnetic fluctuations. Using a self-consistent renormalization calculation for this regime, we uncover a prominent non-Fermi liquid behavior in the resistivity with a characteristic temperature scaling power. These findings open up new avenues for understanding boson-fermion interactions and the novel fermionic quantum criticality.

Ferromagnetic monolayer with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction: Magnon spectrum and effect of quenched disorder

Ferromagnetic monolayer with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction: Magnon spectrum and effect of quenched disorder

Giant 2D Skyrmion Topological Hall Effect with Ultrawide Temperature Window and Low-Current Manipulation in 2D Room-Temperature Ferromagnetic Crystals

The discovery and manipulation of topological Hall effect (THE), an abnormal magnetoelectric response mostly related to the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI), are promising for next-generation spintronic devices based on topological spin textures such as magnetic skyrmions. However, most skyrmions and THE are stabilized in a narrow temperature window either below or over room temperature with high critical current manipulation. It is still elusive and challenging to achieve large THE with both wide temperature window till room temperature and low critical current manipulation. Here, using controllable, naturally oxidized sub-20 and sub-10 nm 2D van der Waals room-temperature ferromagnetic Fe3GaTe2−x crystals, we report robust 2D skyrmion THE with ultrawide temperature window ranging in three orders of magnitude from 2 to 300 K, in combination with giant THE of ∼ 5.4 μΩ⋅cm at 10 K and ∼ 0.15 μΩ⋅cm at 300 K, which is 1–3 orders of magnitude larger than that of all known room-temperature 2D skyrmion systems. Moreover, room-temperature current-controlled THE is also realized with a low critical current density of ∼ 6.2 × 105 A⋅cm−2. First-principles calculations unveil natural oxidation-induced highly enhanced 2D interfacial DMI reasonable for robust giant THE. This work paves the way to room-temperature electrically controlled 2D THE-based practical spintronic devices.

Magnetic properties of Pt/Co/Pt trilayers with W insert layer

The results of magnetic investigations of epitaxial trilayers Pt/Co/Pt asymmetrically modified by inserting W layer at the bottom or top Co interfaces in the wide ranges of Co and W layer thicknesses are reported. The samples were epitaxially grown on Pt buffer in double wedge geometry: the dCo thickness gradient of the continuous Co wedge was orthogonal to the dW thickness gradient of non-magnetic W underlayer (overlayer) deposited either as step-like or continuous wedge. Resulting samples have Pt/W/Co/Pt (Pt/Co/W/Pt) stacking sequences. The influence of (dCo, dW) on static magnetization reversal processes were studied using magnetooptical Kerr effect; Brillouin light scattering (BLS) method was applied for dynamical characterization. The magnetic dead layer thickness d0 abruptly increases until dW reaches ∼ 0.5 nm for both orderings. Then its value saturates for Pt/Co/W/Pt, while for Pt/W/Co/Pt samples a slow growth is observed. For dCo corresponding to out-of-plane magnetization the inserting of W layer leads to the strong reduction in coercivity (two orders of magnitude) and transition to in-plane magnetization in the case of Pt/W/Co/Pt ordering, while the Pt/Co/W/Pt samples demonstrates weak changes of coercivity with small change in magnetic anisotropy. The strength of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (iDMI) and spin wave damping for selected dCo thicknesses as a function of dW were derived from BLS measurements. Inserting W with thickness dW ∼ 0.1 nm induces significant iDMI changes, iDMI saturates for dW > 0.4 nm. Our findings demonstrate the efficiency of thin W interlayer on modification of magnetic parameters in Pt/Co/Pt trilayer.

Magnetic field assisted stabilization of circular double wall domain lattice in oxidized Fe3GeTe2 flakes

The family of 2D ferromagnets is in the center of research for novel spintronics applications. Among the various 2D ferromagnets, Fe3GeTe2 has drawn significant attention since it combines a high Curie temperature with a van der Waals structure, which allows easy exfoliation, and a high spin polarization/large spin–orbit coupling. The presence of interfacial DMI in 2D ferromagnets have a significant impact on the behavior of magnetic domain walls, which are fundamental in magnetic memory and logic devices. By controlling the interfacial DMI, it is possible to manipulate the motion of domain walls and the magnetic domain configuration, which is essential for the development of efficient and reliable magnetic devices. In this study, we investigate the effect of an, inversion symmetry breaking, oxidized layer on the magnetic domain structure of Fe3GeTe2 flakes due to the emergence of interfacial DMI. By combining magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy images and micromagnetic simulations, we study the formation of a circular double wall (CDW) domain lattice in oxidized flakes under specific field cooling and magnetic field sweeping protocols. Their formation is attributed to a competition between the exchange interaction both symmetric and antisymmetric (associated to interfacial DMI), magnetocrystalline anisotropy and the external magnetic field. The CDW domains have a diameter of several microns, a magnetic structure resembling that of a skyrmionium and are arranged in regular lattice that survives thermal fluctuations close to T c. Our results suggest that these CDW domains transition to Néel type skyrmions after a magnetic field threshold. These findings could have important implications for the design and optimization of 2D ferromagnetic materials for spintronic applications.

Phase transitions driven by magnetoelectric and interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

In this paper, we study phase transitions in a magnetoelectric bilayer with two order parameters using Monte Carlo simulation. We investigate the effects of temperature, magnetoelectric coupling, and anisotropy in the multiferroic bilayer formed by a frustrated antiferromagnetic layer with Heisenberg spins and a triangular lattice ferroelectric layer. We show that magnetic frustration induces creation of skyrmions and a skyrmion lattice at moderate values of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and interface magnetoelectric coupling with adjacent ferroelectric layer. The skyrmion crystal is stable up to relatively high temperatures. The effect of anisotropy is to cause only a shift of the critical temperature without changing the type of the phase transition. The phase of the skyrmion lattice becomes more resistant and stable to temperature fluctuations in the case of a highly anisotropic frustrated film.

The Stack Optimization of Magnetic Heterojunction Structures for Next-Generation Spintronic Logic Applications.

Magnetic heterojunction structures with a suppressed interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and a sustainable long-range interlayer exchange coupling are achieved with an ultrathin platinum insertion layer. The systematic inelastic light scattering spectroscopy measurements indicate that the insertion layer restores the symmetry of the system and, then, the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which can prevent the identical magnetic domain wall motions, is obviously minimized. Nevertheless, the strong interlayer exchange coupling of the system is maintained. Consequently, synthetic ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange couplings as a function of the ruthenium layer thickness are observed as well. Therefore, these optimized magnetic multilayer stacks can avoid crucial issues, such as domain wall tilting and position problems, for next-generation spintronic logic applications. Moreover, the synthetic antiferromagnetic coupling can open a new path to develop a radically different NOT gate via current-induced magnetic domain wall motions and inversions.

Enhancement in Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya Interaction in Pt/CoFe(B)/MgO Structures by Suppression of FePt Interface Phases with the Addition of Boron

Enhancement in Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya Interaction in Pt/CoFe(B)/MgO Structures by Suppression of FePt Interface Phases with the Addition of Boron

Correlation between anisotropy and concentration profiles of Ir/Co/Pt system modified by Ga+ bombardment with different energies

In thin-film systems, effects induced by interfaces play a crucial role which makes them the source of many important magnetic properties (e.g., the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, etc.). Therefore, the ability to design interfaces in controlled ways is very important. Here, we will show that a proper choice of Ga+ ion energy permits control of modification efficiency at the bottom and at the top interfaces. We used this fact totune the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of an Ir/Co/Pt layered system. Analyzing theexperimental data and Monte-Carlo simulations using TRIDYN code, we found that the mixing of elements is stronger for the top interface (Co/Pt) than for the bottom interface (Ir/Co) and this difference can be enhanced by reducing the ion energy. This technique opens a new way to control the magnetic properties of layered systems on which structural asymmetries (between thebottom and top interfaces of the magnetic layer) influence magnetic properties.