The Josephson effect is generally described as Cooper pair tunneling, but it can also be understood in a more general context. The DC Josephson effect is the pseudo-Goldstone boson of two coupled systems with a broken continuous abelian U(1) symmetry. Hence, an analog should exist for systems with broken continuous non-Abelian symmetries. To exhibit the generality of the phenomenon and make predictions from a realistic model, we study tunneling between antiferromagnets and also between antiferromagnetic d-wave superconductors. Performing a calculation analogous to that of Ambegaokar and Baratoff for the Josephson junction, we find an equilibrium current of the staggered magnetization through the junction that, in antiferromagnets, is proportional to s_L X s_R where s_L and s_R are the Neel vectors on either sides of the junction. Microscopically, this effect exists because of the coherent tunneling of spin-one particle-hole pairs. In the presence of a magnetic field which is different on either sides of the junction, we find an analog of the AC Josephson effect where the angle between Neel vectors depends on time. In the case of antiferromagnetic d-wave superconductors we predict that there is a contribution to the critical current that depends on the antiferromagnetic order and a contribution to the spin-critical current that depends on superconducting order. The latter contributions come from tunneling of the triplet Cooper pair that is necessarily present in the ground state of an antiferromagnetic d-wave superconductor. All these effects appear to leading order in the square of the tunneling matrix elements.
We predict that the amplitude of the Josephson current through an antiferromagnetic weak link changes by several orders of magnitude upon rotation of the Néel order parameter characterizing the staggered magnetic order. This occurs due the presence of spin-orbit coupling arising from structural inversion asymmetry which makes the band gap in the antiferromagnet highly sensitive to the staggered order parameter direction. We also demonstrate that when phase-biasing the junction, magnetization dynamics is induced which switches the direction of the Néel vector in the antiferromagnet. These resul…
The anomalous ground state phase shift in S/AF/S Josephson junctions in the presence of the Rashba SO-coupling is predicted and numerically investigated. It is found to be a consequence of the uncompensated magnetic moment at the S/AF interfaces. The anomalous phase shift exhibits a strong dependence on the value of the SO-coupling and the sublattice magnetization with the simultaneous existence of stable and metastable branches. It depends strongly on the orientation of the Neel vector with respect to the S/AF interfaces via the dependence on the orientation of the interface uncompensated mag…
Antiferromagnetic spintronics focuses on investigating and using antiferromagnets as active elements in spintronics structures. Last decade advances in relativistic spintronics led to the discovery of the staggered, current-induced field in antiferromagnets. The corresponding Néel spin-orbit torque allowed for efficient electrical switching of antiferromagnetic moments and, in combination with electrical readout, for the demonstration of experimental antiferromagnetic memory devices. In parallel, the anomalous Hall effect was predicted and subsequently observed in antiferromagnets. A new field…
Combining advanced technologies of optics and antiferromagnetic spintronics, we present a method to realize ultrafast spin transport. The optical Barnett effect provokes quasiequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of magnons associated with the fully spin-polarized state in insulating antiferromagnets (AFs). This optomagnonic Barnett effect enables us to exploit coherent magnons of high frequency over the conventional ones of (sub-) terahertz associated with the Néel magnetic order. We show that the macroscopic coherence of those optical magnon BECs induces a spin current across the junc…
Antiferromagnets as active elements of spintronics can be faster than their ferromagnetic counterparts and more robust to magnetic noise. Owing to the strongly exchange-coupled magnetic sublattice structure, antiferromagnetic order parameter dynamics are qualitatively different and thus capable of engendering novel device functionalities. In this review, we discuss antiferromagnetic textures -- nanoparticles, domain walls, and skyrmions, -- under the action of different spin torques. We contrast the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic dynamics, with a focus on the features that can be relevant…
We investigate slow dynamics of collection of a few antiferromagnetic NiO nanoparticles. The zero-field cooled magnetization exhibits size dependent fluctuations. We find memory effects in field cooled magnetization, as well as aging effects in thermoremenant magnetization of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles. The antiferromagnetic nanoparticles show a stronger memory effect than the corresponding effect in the ferromagnetic particles, when the distribution of particles include very small sizes. The situation reverses for bigger sizes. The relaxation of the magnetization after a sudden cooling, …
Spintronic and nanomagnetic devices often derive their functionality from layers of different materials and the interfaces between them. This is especially true for synthetic antiferromagnets - two or more ferromagnetic layers that are separated by metallic spacers or tunnel barriers and which have antiparallel magnetizations. Here, we discuss the new opportunities that arise from synthetic antiferromagnets, as compared to crystal antiferromagnets or ferromagnets.
We theoretically study the current-induced spin torque in antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions, composed of two semi-infinite antiferromagnetic layers separated by a tunnel barrier, in both clean and disordered regimes. We find that the torque enabling the electrical manipulation of the Néel antiferromagnetic order parameter is out of plane $\sim {\bf n}\times{\bf p}$, while the torque competing with the antiferromagnetic exchange is in-plane $\sim {\bf n}\times({\bf p}\times{\bf n})$. Here, ${\bf { p}}$ and ${\bf { n}}$ are the Néel order parameter direction of the reference and free layers, re…
The antiferromagnet is a closed Hermitian system, we find that its excitations, even in the absence of dissipation, can be viewed as a non-Hermitian system with dissipative coupling. Consequently, the antiferromagnetic resonance spectrum does not show the typical level repulsion, but shows the level attraction -- a characteristic behavior often observed in non-Hermitian systems. Such behavior is because the antiferromagnetic ground state is $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric. This new understanding on antiferromagnetic resonance also explains the mysterious enhancement of antiferromagnetic damping rate.…
We theoretically examine a cross effect of magnetic field and charge current on antiferromagnetic domain wall dynamics. Since antiferromagnetic materials are largely insensitive to external magnetic fields in general, charge current has been shown recently as an alternative and efficient way to manipulate antiferromagnets. We find a new role of the magnetic field in the antiferromagnetic dynamics that appears when it is combined with charge current, demonstrating a domain wall motion in the presence of both field and current. We show that a spatially-varying magnetic field can shift the curren…
Ferromagnets are key materials for sensing and memory applications. In contrast, antiferromagnets that represent the more common form of magnetically ordered materials, have so far found less practical application beyond their use for establishing reference magnetic orientations via exchange bias. This might change in the future due to the recent progress in materials research and discoveries of antiferromagnetic spintronic phenomena suitable for device applications. Experimental demonstrations of the electrical switching and electrical detection of the Néel order open a route towards memory d…
We theoretically demonstrate dc and ac electric voltage generation due to spinmotive forces originating from domain wall motion and magnetic resonance, respectively, in two-sublattice antiferromagnets. Our theory accounts for the canting between the sublattice magnetizations, the nonadiabatic electron spin dynamics, and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, with the inter-sublattice electron dynamics treated as a perturbation. This work suggests a new way to observe and explore the dynamics of antiferromagnetic textures by electrical means, an important aspect in the emerging field of antiferromagne…
Antiferromagnetic insulators can become active spintronics components by controlling and detecting their dynamics via spin currents in adjacent metals. This cross-talk occurs via spin-transfer and spin-pumping, phenomena that have been predicted to be as strong in antiferromagnets as in ferromagnets. Here, we demonstrate that a temperature gradient drives a significant heat flow from magnons in antiferromagnetic insulators to electrons in adjacent normal metals. The same coefficients as in the spin-transfer and spin-pumping processes also determine the thermal conductance. However, in contrast…
Magnon spin transport in a metal-antiferromagnetic insulator-ferromagnetic insulator heterostructure is considered. The spin current is generated via the spin Seebeck effect and in the limit of clean sample where the effects of interface imperfections and lattice defects are excluded. For NiO as an antiferromagnetic insulator we have a magnetic order of antiferromagnetically combined planes which are internally in ferromagnetic order. We find that the sign of the spin current depends on the magnetization direction of the plane next to the metal resulting in an even-odd effect for the spin curr…
Using the theory of symmetry and the microscopic model we predicted the possibility of a linear roto-antiferromagnetic effect in the perovskites with structural antiferrodistortive and antiferromagnetic long-range ordering and found the necessary conditions of its occurrence. The main physical manifestations of this effect are the smearing of the antiferromagnetic transition and the jump of the specific heat near it. In the absence of external fields linear roto-antiferromagnetic coupling can induce a weak antiferromagnetic ordering above the Neel temperature, but below the temperature of anti…
The dynamics of antiferromagnets is a current hot topic in condensed matter physics and spintronics. However, the dynamics of insulating antiferromagnets cannot be excited by an electric current, which is a method usually used to manipulate ferromagnetic metals. Here, we propose to use the voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy gradient as an excitation source to manipulate insulating antiferromagnetic textures. We analytically and numerically study the dynamics of an antiferromagnetic skyrmion driven by a magnetic anisotropy gradient. Our analytical calculations demonstrate that such a magnet…
Antiferromagnets offer remarkable promise for future spintronics devices, where antiferromagnetic order is exploited to encode information. The control and understanding of antiferromagnetic domain walls (DWs) - the interfaces between domains with differing order parameter orientations - is a key ingredient for advancing such antiferromagnetic spintronics technologies. However, studies of the intrinsic mechanics of individual antiferromagnetic DWs remain elusive since they require sufficiently pure materials and suitable experimental approaches to address DWs on the nanoscale. Here we nucleate…
Antiferromagnetic spintronics is one of the leading candidates for next-generation electronics. Among abundant antiferromagnets, noncollinear antiferromagnets are promising for achieving practical applications due to coexisting ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic merits. In this perspective, we briefly review the recent progress in the emerging noncollinear antiferromagnetic spintronics from fundamental physics to device applications. Current challenges and future research directions for this field are also discussed.
We report on the enhancement of antiferromagnetic coupling in epitaxial Fe/Si/Fe structures by voltage-driven spin-polarized tunneling currents. Using the ballistic electron magnetic microscopy we established that the hot-electron collector current reflects magnetization alignment and the magnetocurrent exceeds 200% at room temperature. The saturation magnetic field for collector current corresponding to parallel alignment of magnetizations rises up with the tunneling current, thus demonstrating stabilization of the antiparallel alignment and increasing antiferromagnetic coupling. We connect t…
A magnon Nernst effect, an antiferromagnetic analogue of the magnon Hall effect in ferromagnetic insulators, has been studied experimentally for a layered antiferromagnetic insulator MnPS3 in contact with two Pt strips. Thermoelectric voltage in the Pt strips grown on MnPS3 single crystals exhibits non-monotonic temperature dependence at low temperatures, which cannot be explained by electronic origins in Pt but can be ascribed to the inverse spin Hall voltage induced by a magnon Nernst effect. Control of antiferromagnetic domains in the MnPS3 crystal by magnetoelectric cooling is found to mod…
Antiferromagnets naturally exhibit three obvious advantages over ferromagnets for memory device applications: insensitivity to external magnetic fields, much faster spin dynamics (~THz) and higher packing density due to the absence of any stray field. Recently, antiferromagnetic spintronics emerges as a cutting-edge field in the magnetic community. The key mission of this rapidly rising field is to steer the spins or spin axes of antiferromagnets via external stimuli and then realize advanced devices based on their physical property changes. Herein, the state of the art of antiferromagnetic sp…
We report broadband microwave absorption spectroscopy of the layered antiferromagnet CrCl3. We observe a rich structure of resonances arising from quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnetic dynamics. Due to the weak interlayer magnetic coupling in this material, we are able to observe both optical and acoustic branches of antiferromagnetic resonance in the GHz frequency range and a symmetry-protected crossing between them. By breaking rotational symmetry, we further show that strong magnon-magnon coupling with large tunable gaps can be induced between the two resonant modes.
We show how compensated antiferromagnetic spins can be implemented in the micromagnetic simulation program MuMax3. We demonstrate that we can model spin flop coupling as a uniaxial anisotropy for small canting angles and how we can take into account the exact energy terms for strong coupling between a ferromagnet and compensated antiferromagnet. We also investigate the training effect in biaxial antiferromagnets and reproduce the training effect in a polycrystalline IrMn/CoFe bilayer.
One of the main bottleneck issues for room-temperature antiferromagnetic spintronic devices is the small signal read-out owing to the limited anisotropic magnetoresistance in antiferromagnets. However, this could be overcome by either utilizing the Berry-curvature-induced anomalous Hall resistance in noncollinear antiferromagnets or establishing tunnel junction devices based on effective manipulation of antiferromagnetic spins. In this work, we demonstrate the giant piezoelectric strain control of the spin structure and the anomalous Hall resistance in a noncollinear antiferromagnetic metal - …
We search for dynamical magnetoelectric phenomena in three-dimensional correlated systems with spin-orbit coupling. We focus on the antiferromagnetic insulator phases where the dynamical axion field is realized by the fluctuation of the antiferromagnetic order parameter. It is shown that the dynamical chiral magnetic effect, an alternating current generation by magnetic fields, emerges due to the time dependences of the order parameter such as antiferromagnetic resonance. It is also shown that the anomalous Hall effect arises due to the spatial variations of the order parameter such as antifer…
