Large Spin Current Research Articles

Quantifying the large contribution from orbital Rashba–Edelstein effect to the effective damping-like torque on magnetization

The generation of large spin currents, and the associated spin torques, which are at the heart of modern spintronics, has long been achieved by charge-to-spin conversion mechanisms, i.e., the spin Hall effect and/or the Rashba–Edelstein effect, intrinsically linked to strong spin–orbit coupling. Recently, a novel path has been predicted and observed for achieving significant current-induced torques originating from light elements, hence possessing weak spin–orbit interaction. These findings point out to the potential involvement of the orbital counterpart of electrons, namely the orbital Hall and orbital Rashba–Edelstein effects. In this study, we aim at quantifying these orbital-related contributions to the effective torques acting on a thin Co layer in different systems. First, we demonstrate in Pt|Co|Cu|AlOx stacking a comparable torque strength coming from the conversion due to the orbital Rashba–Edelstein effect at the Cu|AlOx interface and the one from the effective spin Hall effect in the bottom Pt|Co system. Second, in order to amplify the orbital-to-spin conversion, we investigate the impact of an intermediate Pt layer in Co|Pt|Cu|CuOx. From the Pt thickness dependence of the effective torques determined by harmonic Hall measurements complemented by spin Hall magneto-resistance and THz spectroscopy experiments, we demonstrate that a large orbital Rashba–Edelstein effect is present at the Cu|CuOx interface, leading to a twofold enhancement of the net torques on Co for the optimal Pt thickness. Our findings not only demonstrate the crucial role that orbital currents can play in low-dimensional systems with weak spin–orbit coupling but also reveal that they enable more energy efficient manipulation of magnetization in spintronic devices.

Unexpected large spin currents in the normal state of an oxide superconductor

Unexpected large spin currents in the normal state of an oxide superconductor

Symmetry Control of Unconventional Spin-Orbit Torques in IrO2.

Spin-orbit torques generated by a spin current are key to magnetic switching in spintronic applications. The polarization of the spin current dictates the direction of switching required for energy-efficient devices. Conventionally, the polarizations of these spin currents are restricted to be along a certain direction due to the symmetry of the material allowing only for efficient in-plane magnetic switching. Unconventional spin-orbit torques arising from novel spin current polarizations, however, have the potential to switch other magnetization orientations such as perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, which is desired for higher density spintronic-based memory devices. Here, it is demonstrated that low crystalline symmetry is not required for unconventional spin-orbit torques and can be generated in a nonmagnetic high symmetry material, iridium dioxide (IrO2 ), using epitaxial design. It is shown that by reducing the relative crystalline symmetry with respect to the growth direction large unconventional spin currents can be generated and hence spin-orbit torques. Furthermore, the spin polarizations detected in (001), (110), and (111) oriented IrO2 thin films are compared to show which crystal symmetries restrict unconventional spin transport. Understanding and tuning unconventional spin transport generation in high symmetry materials can provide a new route towards energy-efficient magnetic switching in spintronic devices.

Enhancement of the Josephson Current in a Quantum Dot Connected to Majorana Nanowires.

We investigate the behavior of the Josephson current in a system composed of a quantum dot (QD) sandwiched between two nanowires by using the nonequilibrium Green's function technique. We consider that the nanowires are in proximity to s-wave superconducror substrates, and Majorana bound states (MBSs) are induced at their ends. It is also assumed that the two nanowires are not aligned in the same orientation, but form a bent angle with respect to each other. It is found that when only one spin state on the QD is coupled to the left nanowire, the Josephson current is the typical sinusoidal function of the phase difference between the two nanowires. If both spin states hybridize to the MBSs with equal coupling strengths, the Josephson current then is not a sinusoidal function of the phase difference. In particular, when the bent angle between the two nanowires is π/2 and the two modes of the MBSs in each nanowire are decoupled from each other, the Josephson current is enhanced by about twenty times in magnitude as compared to the former case. Moreover, the simultaneously enhanced currents of the two spin directions are of the same magnitude but flow in opposite directions and they induce a large pure spin current. Our results also show that this abnormally enhanced Josephson current will be suppressed by a vertical magnetic field applied to the QD.

Antiferroelectrics and Magnetoresistance in La0.5Sr0.5Fe12O19 Multiferroic System.

The appearance of antiferroelectrics (AFE) in the ferrimagnetism (FM) system would give birth to a new type of multiferroic candidate, which is significant to the development of novel devices for energy storage. Here we demonstrate the realization of full antiferroelectrics in a magnetic La0.5Sr0.5Fe12O19 system (AFE+FM), which also presents a strong magnetodielectric response (MD) and magnetoresistance (MR) effect. The antiferroelectric phase was achieved at room temperature by replacing 0.5 Sr2+ ions with 0.5 La2+ ions in the SrFe12O19 compound, whose phase transition temperature of ferroelectrics (FE) to antiferroelectrics was brought down from 174 °C to -141 °C, while the temperature of antiferroelectrics converting to paraelectrics (PE) shifts from 490 °C to 234 °C after the substitution. The fully separated double P-E hysteresis loops reveal the antiferroelectrics in La0.5Sr0.5Fe12O19 ceramics. The magnitude of exerting magnetic field enables us to control the generation of spin current, which induces MD and MR effects. A 1.1T magnetic field induces a large spin current of 15.6 n A in La0.5Sr0.5Fe12O19 ceramics, lifts up dielectric constants by 540%, and lowers the resistance by -89%. The magnetic performance remains as usual. The multiple functions in one single phase allow us to develop novel intelligent devices.

A perspective on electrical generation of spin current for magnetic random access memories

Spin currents are used to write information in magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices by switching the magnetization direction of one of the ferromagnetic electrodes of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) nanopillar. Different physical mechanisms of conversion of charge current to spin current can be used in two-terminal and three-terminal device geometries. In two-terminal devices, charge-to-spin conversion occurs by spin filtering in the MTJ's ferromagnetic electrodes and present day MRAM devices operate near the theoretically expected maximum charge-to-spin conversion efficiency. In three-terminal devices, spin–orbit interactions in a channel material can also be used to generate large spin currents. In this Perspective article, we discuss charge-to-spin conversion processes that can satisfy the requirements of MRAM technology. We emphasize the need to develop channel materials with larger charge-to-spin conversion efficiency—that can equal or exceed that produced by spin filtering—and spin currents with a spin polarization component perpendicular to the channel interface. This would enable high-performance devices based on sub-20 nm diameter perpendicularly magnetized MTJ nanopillars without need of a symmetry breaking field. We also discuss MRAM characteristics essential for CMOS integration. Finally, we identify critical research needs for charge-to-spin conversion measurements and metrics that can be used to optimize device channel materials and interface properties prior to full MTJ nanopillar device fabrication and characterization.

Ferrimagnet GdFeCo Characterization for Spin‐Orbitronics: Large Field‐Like and Damping‐Like Torques

Spintronics is showing promising results in the search for new materials and effects to reduce energy consumption in information technology. Among these materials, ferrimagnets are of special interest because they can produce large spin currents that trigger the magnetization dynamics of adjacent layers or even their own magnetization. Herein, a study of the generation of spin current by GdFeCo in a GdFeCo/Cu/NiFe trilayer where the FeCo sublattice magnetization is dominant at room temperature is presented. Magnetic properties such as the saturation magnetization are deduced from magnetometry measurements while damping constant is estimated from spin‐torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST‐FMR). It is shown that the overall damping‐like (DL) and field‐like (FL) effective fields as well as the associated spin Hall angles can be reliably obtained by performing the dependence of ST‐FMR by an added dc current. The sum of the spin Hall angles for both the spin Hall effect (SHE) and the spin anomalous Hall effect (SAHE) symmetries is: and . From the symmetry of ST‐FMR signals, it is found that is positive and dominated by the negative . The present study paves the way for tuning the different symmetries in spin conversion in highly efficient ferrimagnetic systems.

Proposal for energy efficient spin transfer torque-magnetoresistive random access memory device

Utilizing the electronic analogs of optical phenomena such as anti-reflection coating and resonance for spintronic devices, we propose and theoretically analyze the design of a spin transfer torque-magnetoresistive random access memory (STT-MRAM) device. The proposed device consists of a superlattice heterostructure terminated with the anti-reflective regions sandwiched between the fixed and free ferromagnetic layers. Employing Green’s function spin-transport formalism coupled self-consistently with the stochastic Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert–Slonczewski equation, we design an STT-MRAM based on the anti-reflective superlattice magnetic tunnel junction (AR-SLMTJ) device having an ultrahigh tunnel magnetoresistance (≈3.5×104%) and large spin current. We demonstrate that the STT-MRAM based on the AR-SLMTJ structure owing to the physics of bandpass spin filtering is nearly 1100% more energy efficient than trilayer magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) based STT-MRAM. We also present detailed probabilistic switching and energy analysis to find out the optimal point of operation of a trilayer MTJ and AR-SLMTJ based STT-MRAM. Our predictions serve as a template to consider the heterostructures for next-generation spintronic device applications.

Influence of thickness on current-induced magnetization switching in L10-FePt single layer* *Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFB2005801), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51971027, 51731003, 51971023, 51927802, and 51971024), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. FRF-TP-19-001A3).

The thickness dependent spin–orbit torque (SOT) in an L10-FePt single layer is investigated in this work. As the thickness increases from 8 nm to 16 nm, the magnetization switching ratio in the L10-FePt film with higher chemical ordering becomes smaller. It is noted that compared with 3-nm-thick L10-FePt film, 8-nm-thick L10-FePt film can switch much magnetization with the increase of chemical ordering. When the FePt film is thick enough, the SOT in FePt is closely related to the L10-ordered structure, which indicates a bulk nature. Therefore, the disordering plays an important role in the magnetization switching only for the ultra-thin FePt films, while the structural gradient may play an important role for thicker films. However, both of the two mechanisms cannot fully explain the process of magnetization switching and the spin current generation. Although many factors influence SOT, here in this work we emphasize only the bulk nature of strong SOC in L10-FePt through density functional theory calculations, which should generate large spin current due to spin Hall effect.

Multifunctional antiferromagnetic materials with giant piezomagnetism and noncollinear spin current

We propose a new type of spin-valley locking (SVL), named C-paired SVL, in antiferromagnetic systems, which directly connects the spin/valley space with the real space, and hence enables both static and dynamical controls of spin and valley to realize a multifunctional antiferromagnetic material. The new emergent quantum degree of freedom in the C-paired SVL is comprised of spin-polarized valleys related by a crystal symmetry instead of the time-reversal symmetry. Thus, both spin and valley can be accessed by simply breaking the corresponding crystal symmetry. Typically, one can use a strain field to induce a large net valley polarization/magnetization and use a charge current to generate a large noncollinear spin current. We predict the realization of the C-paired SVL in monolayer V2Se2O, which indeed exhibits giant piezomagnetism and can generate a large transverse spin current. Our findings provide unprecedented opportunities to integrate various controls of spin and valley with nonvolatile information storage in a single material, which is highly desirable for versatile fundamental research and device applications.

Theory for phonon pumping by magnonic spin currents

In recent years several experimental observations and theoretical predictions of unique phenomena involving the interplay between spin currents and the coupled magnetization-elastic dynamics have invigorated the field of spintronics. One important experiment reported several years ago showed that elastic waves can produce spin pumping, that is, generation of spin currents in a metallic film in contact with a ferromagnetic material. Very recently the Onsager reciprocal of this effect has been observed in samples made of a film of the insulating ferrimagnet yttrium iron garnet in contact with a platinum strip with nanoscopic silver particles that is known to exhibit a giant spin Hall effect. By passing an electric current through the metallic strip, the spin current generated by the spin Hall effect produces a large magnonic spin current that excites phonons with microwave frequency, observed by Brillouin light scattering. Here we show that these experiments are explained by a theory based on a process in which one magnon in the spin current creates one phonon and another magnon, with conservation of energy and momentum. The theoretical value of the critical charge current in the metallic strip necessary to drive phonons and the values of the phonon frequencies are in good agreement with the values measured experimentally.

Electrical detection of magnon-photon interactions via an auxiliary spin-wave mode

We report on the electrical detection of a hybrid magnon-photon system, which is comprised of a magnetic sample coupled to a planar cavity. While the uniform Kittel mode has the largest coupling strength among all the magnon modes, it only generates a modest voltage signal by means of inverse spin-Hall effect. We have found that the generated voltage can be significantly enhanced by introducing a higher order magnon mode, which possesses a much higher spin pumping efficiency and furthermore, it is nearly degenerated with the Kittel mode. The experimental results can be explained by our theoretical model, and suggest that the use of an auxiliary magnon mode can realize the configuration of a magnon-photon system with both strong coupling and large spin current.

Origin of large spin Hall magnetoresistance in Fe/CuOx bilayers

We have compared the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) in Fe/Pt and Fe/CuOx (with natural oxidation) bilayers with varying the thickness of Fe layer. A larger SMR in Fe/CuOx bilayers has been found when the thickness of Fe layer is 3 nm. Moreover, the SMR of the two bilayers decrease with increasing the thickness of Fe from 3 nm to 10 nm, but that of Fe/CuOx drops more sharply due to shunting current effect. Through harmonic measurements, the emergent spin current is proved to be generated in the Fe/CuOx bilayers. The mixed phase of CuOx has been confirmed including CuO, Cu2O and Cu, which performs strong spin-orbit coupling and produce large spin current. On the other hand, the interface-generated spin current should be ruled out. All the results have been compared with those in Fe/Al2O3 bilayers with negligible spin current.

Spin-current-mediated rapid magnon localisation and coalescence after ultrafast optical pumping of ferrimagnetic alloys

Sub-picosecond magnetisation manipulation via femtosecond optical pumping has attracted wide attention ever since its original discovery in 1996. However, the spatial evolution of the magnetisation is not yet well understood, in part due to the difficulty in experimentally probing such rapid dynamics. Here, we find evidence of a universal rapid magnetic order recovery in ferrimagnets with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy via nonlinear magnon processes. We identify magnon localisation and coalescence processes, whereby localised magnetic textures nucleate and subsequently interact and grow in accordance with a power law formalism. A hydrodynamic representation of the numerical simulations indicates that the appearance of noncollinear magnetisation via optical pumping establishes exchange-mediated spin currents with an equivalent 100% spin polarised charge current density of 107 A cm−2. Such large spin currents precipitate rapid recovery of magnetic order after optical pumping. The magnon processes discussed here provide new insights for the stabilization of desired meta-stable states.

Interface-Generated Spin Currents.

Transport calculations based on abinitio band structures reveal large interface-generated spin currents at Co/Pt, Co/Cu, and Pt/Cu interfaces. These spin currents are driven by in-plane electric fields but flow out of plane and can have similar strengths to spin currents generated by the spin Hall effect in bulk Pt. Each interface generates spin currents with polarization along z[over ^]×E, where z[over ^] is the interface normal and E denotes the electric field. The Co/Cu and Co/Pt interfaces additionally generate spin currents with polarization along m[over ^]×(z[over ^]×E), where m[over ^] gives the magnetization direction of Co. The latter spin polarization is controlled by-but not aligned with-the magnetization, providing a novel mechanism for generating spin torques in magnetic trilayers.

Giant Inverse Spin Hall Effect in Bi Doped PtBi Alloy

AbstractFor generating or detecting spin currents without ferromagnetic materials in spintronic devices, nonmagnetic materials with large spin Hall angles would elicit extreme interest. A giant inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) generating in Pt doped with 8% Bi by composition is demonstrated. From a combination of ferromagnetic resonance, spin pumping, and ISHE experiments, a large spin current is found induced in an yttrium iron garnet/Pt0.92Bi0.08 bilayer. The spin diffusion length and spin Hall angle of the Pt0.92Bi0.08 alloy are λSD = 3.3 ± 0.1 nm and θSH = 0.106 ± 0.005, respectively. In the experiments, the spin–charge conversion of this alloy is twice that of Pt and is larger than most reported heavy metals. Such enhancement can be attributed to the skew scattering from the high atomic number of Bi impurities via the spin–orbit interaction.

Photoinduced pure spin-current in triangulene-based nano-devices

Triangulene has drawn great attention due to its extraordinary chemical and material properties. This magnetic molecule has the ferromagnetic ground state due to its two unpaired π electrons, making it suitable for spintronic applications. In this work, a triangulene based spin-photovoltaic device is proposed using a two-probe model. The quantum transport and spin current in triangulene device under the light irradiation are investigated based on the density functional theory combined with the nonequilibrium Green's functions. We finds that by adjusting photon energy (Eph) and gate voltage (Vg), the proposed device can produce large pure spin current without charge current. The origin of the pure spin current is also analyzed based on the through-bond mechanism. Our work may provide theoretical reference for design of novel spintronic device with high performance.

Room-Temperature Nanoseconds Spin Relaxation in WTe2 and MoTe2 Thin Films.

The Weyl semimetal WTe2 and MoTe2 show great potential in generating large spin currents since they possess topologically protected spin‐polarized states and can carry a very large current density. In addition, the intrinsic non‐centrosymmetry of WTe2 and MoTe2 endows with a unique property of crystal symmetry‐controlled spin–orbit torques. An important question to be answered for developing spintronic devices is how spins relax in WTe2 and MoTe2. Here, a room‐temperature spin relaxation time of 1.2 ns (0.4 ns) in WTe2 (MoTe2) thin film using the time‐resolved Kerr rotation (TRKR) is reported. Based on ab initio calculation, a mechanism of long‐lived spin polarization resulting from a large spin splitting around the bottom of the conduction band, low electron–hole recombination rate, and suppression of backscattering required by time‐reversal and lattice symmetry operation is identified. In addition, it is found that the spin polarization is firmly pinned along the strong internal out‐of‐plane magnetic field induced by large spin splitting. This work provides an insight into the physical origin of long‐lived spin polarization in Weyl semimetals, which could be useful to manipulate spins for a long time at room temperature.

Pumping approximately integrable systems

Weak perturbations can drive an interacting many-particle system far from its initial equilibrium state if one is able to pump into degrees of freedom approximately protected by conservation laws. This concept has for example been used to realize Bose–Einstein condensates of photons, magnons and excitons. Integrable quantum systems, like the one-dimensional Heisenberg model, are characterized by an infinite set of conservation laws. Here, we develop a theory of weakly driven integrable systems and show that pumping can induce large spin or heat currents even in the presence of integrability breaking perturbations, since it activates local and quasi-local approximate conserved quantities. The resulting steady state is qualitatively captured by a truncated generalized Gibbs ensemble with Lagrange parameters that depend on the structure but not on the overall amplitude of perturbations nor the initial state. We suggest to use spin-chain materials driven by terahertz radiation to realize integrability-based spin and heat pumps.

Generation of large spin and valley currents in a quantum pump based on molybdenum disulfide.

Generation of large currents, versatile functionality, and simple structures are of fundamental importance in the development of adiabatic quantum pump devices with nanoscale dimensions. In the present study, we propose an adiabatic quantum pump with a simple structure based on molybdenum disulfide, MoS2, to generate large spin and valley resolved currents. We show that pure and fully polarized spin and valley currents can be easily generated by employing two potential gates and using an exchange magnetic field. Unlike graphene and silicene, in order to induce a valley resolved current in MoS2, one does not need to induce strain and apply an electric field. The spin and valley resolved currents are completely coupled together, so that the spin up (down) current is exactly equal to the valley K(K') current. Hence, we can detect the valley resolved current by utilizing more straightforward and simple methods used for the detection of spin resolved currents. The other prominent feature of this proposed pump is its large current, which is two and three orders of magnitude larger than the maximum current of similar pump structures based on silicene and graphene, respectively. The results of this study are promising for the fabrication of quantum pumps with large spin and valley resolved currents, which opens up the possibility of further development of spintronics and valleytronics in 2D nanostructures.