The magnetization of Pd(100) ultrathin films that show ferromagnetism due to quantum well states was manipulated by changing the quantum well state with an applied bias voltage. The voltage dependence of the magnetic moment of Pd/SrTiO$_{3-x}$/Ti/Au intrinsically depends on the Pd film thickness. The induced change in the magnetic moment is due to the modulation of the phase shift at the interface between the Pd thin film and the semiconductor SrTiO$_{3-x}$ substrate.
First-principles density-functional theory calculations show switching magnetization by 90 degree can be achieved in ultrathin BFO film by applying external electric-field. Up-spin carriers appear to the surface with positive field while down-spin ones to the negative field surface, arising from the redistribution of Fe-t2g orbital. The half-metallic behavior of Fe-3d states in the surface of R phase film makes it a promising candidate for AFM/FM bilayer heterostructure possessing electric-field tunable FM magnetization reversal and opens a new way towards designing spintronic multiferroics. T…
We report the observation of field-induced magnetization of BiFeO3 (BFO) in an ultrathin BFO/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) superlattice using polarized neutron reflectivity (PNR). Our PNR results indicate parallel alignment of magnetization across BFO/LSMO interfaces. The study showed an increase in average magnetization on increasing applied magnetic field at 10K. We observed a saturation magnetization of 110 \pm 15 kA/m (~0.8 μB/Fe) for ultrathin BFO layer (~2 unit cell) sandwiched between ultrathin LSMO layers (~ 2 unit cell), which is much higher than the canted moment (0.03 μB/Fe) in the bulk BFO…
Kerr rotation and Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometry measurements were performed on ultrathin (Ga$_{0.95}$Mn$_{0.05}$)As layers. The thinner layers (below 250 Å) exhibit magnetic properties different than those of thicker ones, associated with different microstructure, and some degree of inhomogeneity. The temperature dependence of the field-cooled-magnetization of the layers is recorded after successive low temperature annealings. While the Curie temperature of the thicker layer (250 Å) is nearly unchanged, the critical temperature of the thinner layers is enhanc…
We demonstrate an instrument for time-resolved magnetic imaging that is highly sensitive to the in-plane magnetization state and dynamics of thin-film bilayers of yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12,YIG)/Pt: the time-resolved longitudinal spin Seebeck (TRLSSE) effect microscope. We detect the local, in-plane magnetic orientation within the YIG by focusing a picosecond laser to generate thermally-driven spin current from the YIG into the Pt by the spin Seebeck effect, and then use the inverse spin Hall effect in the Pt to transduce this spin current to an output voltage. To establish the time resolut…
NiFe$_2$O$_4$ thin films with varying thickness were grown on SrTiO$_3$(001) by reactive molecular beam epitaxy. Soft and hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal a homogeneous cation distribution throughout the whole film with stoichiometric Ni:Fe ratios of 1:2 independent of the film thickness. Low energy electron diffraction and high resolution (grazing incidence) x-ray diffraction in addition to x-ray reflectivity experiments were conducted to obtain information of the film surface and bulk structure, respectively. For ultrathin films up to 7.3 nm, lateral tensile and vert…
We suggest a consistent microscopic theory of spin injection from a ferromagnet (FM) into a semiconductor (S). It describes tunneling and emission of electrons through modified FM-S Schottky barrier with an ultrathin heavily doped interfacial S layer . We calculate nonlinear spin-selective properties of such a reverse-biased FM-S junction, its nonlinear I-V characteristic, current saturation, and spin accumulation in S. We show that the spin polarization of current, spin density, and penetration length increase with the total current until saturation. We find conditions for most efficient spin…
Growing demands for the voltage-driven spintronic applications with ultralow-power consumption have led to new interest in exploring the voltage-induced magnetization switching in ferromagnetic metals. In this study, we observed a large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy change in Au(001) / ultrathin Fe80Co20(001) / MgO(001) / Polyimide / ITO junctions, and succeeded in realizing a clear switching of magnetic easy axis between in-plane and perpendicular directions. Furthermore, employing a perpendicularly magnetized film, voltage-induced magnetization switching in the perpendicular direction un…
Spin-orbit interaction derived spin torques provide a means of reversing the magnetization of perpendicularly magnetized ultrathin films with currents that flow in the plane of the layers. A basic and critical question for applications is the speed and efficiency of switching with nanosecond current pulses. Here we investigate and contrast the quasistatic (slowly swept current) and pulsed current-induced switching characteristics of micron scale Hall crosses consisting of very thin ($<1$ nm) perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB layers on $β$-Ta. While complete magnetization reversal is found at a …
Ultrathin two-dimensional semiconductors obtained from layered transition-metal dichalcogenides such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) are promising for ultimately scaled transistors beyond Si. Although the shortening of the semiconductor channel is widely studied, the narrowing of the channel, which should also be important for scaling down the transistor, has been examined to a lesser degree thus far. In this study, the impact of narrowing on mechanically exfoliated MoS2 flakes was investigated according to the channel-width-dependent Schottky barrier heights at Cr/Au contacts. Narrower channel…
To develop practically useful systems for ultra-high-density information recording with densities above terabits/cm$^2$, it is necessary to simultaneously achieve high thermal stability at room temperature and high recording rates. One method that has been proposed to reach this goal is heat-assisted magnetization reversal (HAMR). In this method, one applies a high-coercivity material, whose coercivity is temporarily lowered during the writing process through localized heating. Here we present kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of a model of HAMR for ultrathin films, in which the temperature in t…
We discuss numerical and theoretical results for models of magnetization switching in nanoparticles and ultrathin films. The models and computational methods include kinetic Ising and classical Heisenberg models of highly anisotropic magnets which are simulated by dynamic Monte Carlo methods, and micromagnetics models of continuum-spin systems that are studied by finite-temperature Langevin simulations. The theoretical analysis builds on the fact that a magnetic particle or film that is magnetized in a direction antiparallel to the applied field is in a metastable state. Nucleation theory is t…
We investigate a spin reorientation transition (SRT) in ultrathin magnetic films by Monte-Carlo simulations. We assume that the lateral size of the film is relatively small and it has a single-domain structure. To gain insights into the SRT, we measure a free-energy as a function of perpendicular and in-plane magnetizations. As a result, we find that the system is in a superparamagnetic state at the SRT temperature. The disappearance of magnetization around the SRT temperature, which is observed in experiments, emerges due to dynamical fluctuations in magnetization which are inherent in the su…
Growth of Co film on SiO2 substrates with the surface roughness of 0.5 nm and 1.6 nm has been studied in situ using the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) and four probe resistivity measurements. In-situ measurements jointly suggest the Volmer-Weber growth process and proceed via a nonmagnetic, superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic phase formation on both substrates. Islands are found to coalesce at film thicknesses of 0.6 nm and at 1.5 nm with continuous film formation around film thicknesses of 1.5 nm and 3.0 nm for smooth and rough substrates, respectively. Ferromagnetic long-range ordering i…
We show that the spin-orbit torque induced magnetization switching in nanomagnets presenting Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DMI) interaction is governed by a chiral domain nucleation at the edges. The nucleation is induced by the DMI and the applied in-plane magnetic field followed by domain wall propagation. Our micromagnetic simulations show that the DC switching current can be defined as the edge nucleation current, which decreases strongly with increasing amplitude of the DMI. This description allows us to build a simple analytical model to quantitatively predict the switching current. We find tha…
Ferromagnetic materials dominate as the magnetically active element in spintronic devices, but come with drawbacks such as large stray fields, and low operational frequencies. Compensated ferrimagnets provide an alternative as they combine the ultrafast magnetization dynamics of antiferromagnets with a ferromagnet-like spin-orbit-torque (SOT) behavior. However to use ferrimagnets in spintronic devices their advantageous properties must be retained also in ultrathin films (t < 10 nm). In this study, ferrimagnetic Gdx(Fe87.5Co12.5)1-x thin films in the thickness range t = 2-20 nm were grown on h…
Graphene is attractive for spintronics due to its long spin life time and high mobility. So far only thick and polycrystalline slabs have been used as ferromagnetic electrodes. We report the growth of flat, epitaxial ultrathin Co films on graphene. These display perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the thickness range 0.5-1nm, which is confirmed by theory. PMA, epitaxy and ultrathin thickness bring new perspectives for graphene-based spintronic devices such as the zero-field control of an arbitrary magnetization direction, band matching between electrodes and graphene, and interface effects su…
Giant Magnetization Enhancement at Ultrathin Limit of an Orthoferrite
Sungkyunkwan University（成均馆大学）；Korea Institute of Energy Technology（韩国能源技术研究院）；Pusan National University（釜山国立大学）；Max Planck POSTECH Korea Research Initiative（马普-POSTECH韩国研究倡议）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；Kangwon National University（江原国立大学）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（斯坦福直线加速器中心）；Pohang University of Science and Technology（浦项科技大学）
The dynamics of domain walls in ultrathin ferromagnetic strips with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is studied from both numerical and analytical micromagnetics. The influence of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction associated to a bi-layer strip arrangement has been considered, giving rise to the formation of Dzyaloshinskii domain walls. Such walls possess under equilibrium conditions an inner magnetization structure defined by a certain orientation angle that make them to be considered as intermediate configurations between Bloch and Néel walls. Two different dynamics are cons…
In a two-dimensional ferromagnetic metal layer lacking inversion symmetry, the itinerant electrons mediate the interaction between the Rashba spin-orbit interaction and the ferromagnetic order parameter, leading to a Rashba spin torque exerted on the magnetization. Using Keldysh technique, in the presence of both magnetism and a spin-orbit coupling, we derive a spin diffusion equation that provides a coherent description to the diffusive spin dynamics. The characteristics of the spin torque and its implication on magnetization dynamics are discussed in the limits of large and weak spin-orbit c…
We demonstrate that the reorientation transition from out-of-plane to in-plane magnetization with decreasing temperature as observed experimentally in Ni-films on Cu(001) can be explained on a microscopic basis. Using a combination of mean field theory and perturbation theory, we derive an analytic expression for the temperature dependent anisotropy. The reduced magnetization in the film surface at finite temperatures plays a crucial role for this transition as with increasing temperature the influence of the uniaxial anisotropies is reduced at the surface and is enhanced inside the film.
The thickness evolution of in-plane magnetization reversal in ultrathin films is studied with a theoretical model that takes account of surface roughness typical of epitaxial growth. Guided by Néel's model, step edge sites of monolayer-height islands are assigned a two-fold anisotropy in addition to a four-fold anisotropy at all sites. Coercivity is found to depend essentially on both the film thickness and the partial coverage of the topmost layer. Its qualitative features are determined primarily by sample geometry and the size of the step anisotropy compared to the domain wall energy. Magne…
We investigate the sensitive interplay between magnetic, electronic and structural properties in the ferrimagnetic oxide NiFe2O4. Emphasis is placed on the impact of reduced dimensionality in the crossover from bulk-like to ultrathin films. We observed an enhanced saturation magnetization $M_S$ for ultrathin NiFe2O4 films on Nb-SrTiO3 (001) substrates that co-occurs with a reduced out-of-plane lattice constant under compressive in-plane epitaxial strain. We found a bulk-like cationic coordination of the inverse spinel lattice independent of the NiFe2O4 film thickness -- thus ruling out a catio…
The spin and orbital magnetic moments of the Fe3O4 epitaxial ultrathin film synthesized by plasma assisted simultaneous oxidization on MgO(100) have been studied with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). The ultrathin film retains a rather large total magnetic moment, i.e. (2.7+-0.15) uB/f.u., which is ~ 70% of that for the bulk-like Fe3O4. A significant unquenched orbital moment up to (0.54+-0.05) uB/f.u. was observed, which could come from the symmetry breaking at the Fe3O4/MgO interface. Such sizable orbital moment will add capacities to the Fe3O4-based spintronics devices in the magne…
Transition metal ferromagnetic films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) have ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) linewidths that are one order of magnitude larger than soft magnetic materials, such as pure iron (Fe) and permalloy (NiFe) thin films. A broadband FMR setup has been used to investigate the origin of the enhanced linewidth in Ni$|$Co multilayer films with PMA. The FMR linewidth depends linearly on frequency for perpendicular applied fields and increases significantly when the magnetization is rotated into the film plane. Irradiation of the film with Helium ions decreases the PM…
Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (iDMI) has been investigated in Co2FeAl (CFA) ultrathin films of various thicknesses (0.8 nm<tCFA<2 nm) grown on Si substrates, using Pt, W, Ir and MgO buffer or/and capping layers. Vibrating sample magnetometry revealed that magnetization at saturation (Ms) for the Pt and Ir buffered films is higher than the usual Ms of CFA due to the proximity induced magnetization (PIM) in Ir and Pt, estimated to be 19% and 27%, respectively. The presence of PIM in these materials is confirmed using x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity. Moreover, while no PIM is…
Brillouin light scattering (BLS) measurements were performed for (17-120) Angstrom thick Cu/Ni/Cu/Si(001) films. A monotonic dependence of the frequency of the uniform mode on an in-plane magnetic field H was observed both on increasing and on decreasing H in the range (2-14) kOe, suggesting the absence of a metastable collinear perpendicular ground state. Further investigation by magneto-optical vector magnetometry (MOKE-VM) in an unconventional canted-field geometry provided evidence for a domain structure where the magnetization is canted with respect to the perpendicular to the film. Spin …
In this study, a model of a Schottky-barrier carbon nanotube field- effect transistor (CNT-FET), with ferromagnetic contacts, has been developed. The emphasis is put on analysis of current-voltage characteristics as well as shot (and thermal) noise. The method is based on the tight-binding model and the non- equilibrium Green's function technique. The calculations show that, at room temperature, the shot noise of the CNT FET is Poissonian in the sub-threshold region, whereas in elevated gate and drain/source voltage regions the Fano factor gets strongly reduced. Moreover, transport properties …
The recent isolation of two-dimensional van der Waals magnetic materials has uncovered rich physics that often differs from the magnetic behaviour of their bulk counterparts. However, the microscopic details of fundamental processes such as the initial magnetization or domain reversal, which govern the magnetic hysteresis, remain largely unknown in the ultrathin limit. Here we employ a widefield nitrogen-vacancy (NV) microscope to directly image these processes in few-layer flakes of magnetic semiconductor vanadium triiodide (VI$_3$). We observe complete and abrupt switching of most flakes at …
We demonstrate a large electrical spin injection into GaAs at zero magnetic field thanks to an ultrathin perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB contact of a few atomic planes (1.2 nm). The spin-polarization of electrons injected into GaAs was examined by the circular polarization of electroluminescence from a Spin Light Emitting Diode with embedded InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells. The electroluminescence polarization as a function of the magnetic field closely traces the out-of-plane magnetization of the CoFeB/MgO injector. A circular polarization degree of the emitted light as large as 20% at 25 K is ach…
Ultrathin films of topological Dirac semimetal, Na$_3$Bi, has recently been revealed as an unusual electronic materials with field-tunable topological phases. Here we investigate the electronic and transport properties of ultrathin Na$_3$Bi as an electrical contact to two-dimensional (2D) metal, i.e. graphene, and 2D semiconductor, i.e. MoS$_2$ and WS$_2$ monolayers. Using combined first-principle density functional theory and nonequilibrium Green's function simulation, we show that the electrical coupling between Na$_3$Bi bilayer thin film and graphene results in a notable interlayer charge t…
The nucleation of reversed magnetic domains in Pt/Co/AlO$_{x}$ microstructures with perpendicular anisotropy was studied experimentally in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field. For large enough in-plane field, nucleation was observed preferentially at an edge of the sample normal to this field. The position at which nucleation takes place was observed to depend in a chiral way on the initial magnetization and applied field directions. An explanation of these results is proposed, based on the existence of a sizable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in this sample. Another consequence of t…
The electronic and magnetic properties of Fe/GaAs(001) magnetic junctions are investigated using first-principles density-functional calculations. Abrupt and intermixed interfaces are considered, and the dependence of charge transfer, magnetization profiles, Schottky barrier heights, and spin polarization of densities of states on interface structure is studied. With As-termination, an abrupt interface with Fe is favored, while Ga-terminated GaAs favors the formation of an intermixed layer with Fe. The Schottky barrier heights are particularly sensitive to the abruptness of the interface. A si…
Dynamic phase transition phenomena in ultrathin films described by Blume-Capel model have been investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. Hysteresis loops, micromagnetic structures, and hysteresis loop area curves, as well as dynamic correlation between the magnetization and the external field have been studied as functions of the field, as well as the film parameters. The variation of critical coupling of the modified film surface at which the transition temperature becomes independent of film thickness have been clarified for varying system parameters. Frequency dispersion of hysteresis loo…
Cobalt ferrite ultrathin films with inverse spinel structure are among the best candidates for spin-filtering at room temperature. We have fabricated high-quality epitaxial ultrathin CoFe2O4 layers on Ag(001) following a three-step method: an ultrathin metallic CoFe2 alloy was first grown in coherent epitaxy on the substrate, and then treated twice with O2, first at RT and then during annealing. The epitaxial orientation, the surface, interface and film structure were resolved combining LEED, STM, Auger and in situ GIXRD. A slight tetragonal distortion was observed, that should drive the easy …
We present the observation of strain induced sign reversal of anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) in LCMO (LCMO) ultrathin films (thickness 4 nm) deposited on STO (001) substrate (STO). We have also observed unusually large AMR in LCMO/STO thin films with thickness of 6 nm below but close to its Curie temperature (TC) which decrease as the film thickness increases. The sign reversal of AMR (with a maximum value of - 6) with magnetic field or temperature for the 4 nm thin film may be attributed to the increase in tensile strain in the plane of the thin film which in turn facilitates the rotatio…
Spin-charge interconversion (SCI) phenomena have attracted a growing interest in the field of spintronics as means to detect spin currents or manipulate the magnetization of ferromagnets. The key ingredients to exploit these assets are a large conversion efficiency, the scalability down to the nanometer scale and the integrability with opto-electronic and spintronic devices. Here we show that, when an ultrathin Bi film is epitaxially grown on top of a Ge(111) substrate, quantum size effects arising in nanometric Bi islands drastically boost the SCI efficiency, even at room temperature. Using x…
The symmetric (Heisenberg) exchange interaction is fundamental to magnetism and assumes critical importance in designing magnetic materials for novel emergent phenomena and device applications. However, quantifying exchange is extremely challenging for ultrathin ($\sim$ 1 nm) magnetic films, as techniques and approximations reliably used for bulk materials are largely inapplicable in the two-dimensional (2D) limit. Here we present and contrast the measurement of exchange stiffness, $A$, by several methods on a series of five Co/Pt-based ultrathin ($1-2$ nm) films. We compare results from (a) s…
We report broadband ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements based on a coplanar waveguide (CPW) of ultrathin magnetic film structures that comprise in-plane/out-of-plane decoupled layers deposited on nonmagnetic buffer layers of various thickness or other buffer structures with a diverse sheet resistance. We show that the excitation of the fundamental mode can be substantially (up to 10 times) enhanced in the structures deposited on buffer layers with a low sheet resistance in comparison to the structures deposited on thin or weakly conducting buffer layers. The results are analyzed in term…
Tuning the Magnetism in Ultrathin CrxTey Films by Lattice Dimensionality
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）；Centre for Quantum Physics, Key laboratory of advanced optoelectronic quantum architecture and measurement (MOE), School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology（北京理工大学物理学院）；Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory（松山湖材料实验室）
We revealed the electrical transport through surface ferromagnetic states of a nonmagnetic metal PdCoO2. Electronic reconstruction at the Pd-terminated surface of PdCoO2 induces Stoner-like ferromagnetic states, which could lead to spin-related phenomena among the highly conducting electrons in PdCoO2. Fabricating a series of nanometer-thick PdCoO2 thin films, we detected a surface-magnetization-driven anomalous Hall effect via systematic thickness- and termination-dependent measurements. Besides, we discuss that finite magnetic moments in electron doped CoO2 triangular lattices may have given…
We report on the structure, magnetization, magnetic anisotropy, and domain morphology of ultrathin yttrium iron garnet (YIG)/Pt films with thickness ranging from 3 to 90 nm. We find that the saturation magnetization is close to the bulk value in the thickest films and decreases towards low thickness with a strong reduction below 10 nm. We characterize the magnetic anisotropy by measuring the transverse spin Hall magnetoresistance as a function of applied field. Our results reveal strong easy plane anisotropy fields of the order of 50-100 mT, which add to the demagnetizing field, as well as wea…
The renormalization group equations describing a finite 2DXY system with fourfold anisotropy are solved in two steps, in order to study the magnetic transition to paramagnetism in an ultrathin film. First, the equations are linearized near the critical coupling $K=J/k_BT=2/π$. An exact solution of the linearized equations confirms that a finite-size Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition occurs in the presence of weak fourfold anisotropy, and that an Ising transition occurs for strong anisotropy. The behaviour of a given system is determined by the product of an anisotropy parameter and the logar…
A double-peaked structure was observed in the {\it in-situ} Brillouin Light Scattering (BLS) spectra of a 6 Å$ $ thick epitaxial Fe/GaAs(001) film for values of an external magnetic field $H$, applied along the hard in plane direction, lower than a critical value $H_c\simeq 0.9$ kOe. This experimental finding is theoretically interpreted in terms of a model which assumes a non-homogeneous magnetic ground state characterized by the presence of perperpendicular up/down stripe domains. For such a ground state, two spin-wave modes, namely an acoustic and an optic mode, can exist. Upon increasing t…
We present a method to map the saturation magnetization of soft ultrathin films with perpendicular anisotropy, and we illustrate it to assess the compositional dependence of the magnetization of CoFeB(1 nm)/MgO films. The method relies on the measurement of the dipolar repulsion of parallel domain walls that define a linear domain. The film magnetization is linked to the field compressibility of the domain. The method also yields the minimal distance between two walls before their merging, which sets a practical limit to the storage density in spintronic devices using domain walls as storage e…
The flow of in-plane current through ultrathin magnetic heterostructures can cause magnetization switching or domain wall nucleation owing to bulk and interfacial effects. Within the magnetic layer, the current can create magnetic instabilities via spin transfer torques (STT). At interface(s), spin current generated from the spin Hall effect in a neighboring layer can exert torques, referred to as the spin Hall torques, on the magnetic moments. Here, we study current induced magnetization switching in perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB/MgO heterostructures with a heavy metal (HM) underlayer. Dep…
We present the complete zero temperature phase diagram of a model for ultrathin films with perpendicular anisotropy. The whole parameter space of relevant coupling constants is studied in first order anisotropy approximation. Because the ground state is known to be formed by perpendicular stripes separated by Bloch walls, a standard variational approach is used, complemented with specially designed Monte Carlo simulations. We can distinguish four regimes according to the different nature of striped domains: a high anisotropy Ising regime with sharp domain walls, a saturated stripe regime with …
The exchange interaction in ferromagnetic ultra-thin films is a critical parameter in magnetization-based storage and logic devices, yet the accurate measurement of it remains a challenge. While a variety of approaches are currently used to determine the exchange parameter, each has its limitations, and good agreement among them has not been achieved. To date, neutron scattering, magnetometry, Brillouin light scattering, spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Kerr microscopy have all been used to determine the exchange parameter. Here we present a novel method that exploits the …
Two-Dimensional Altermagnetism in Epitaxial CrSb Ultrathin Films
School of Physics Beihang University（北京航空航天大学物理学院）；Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院高能物理研究所）；Singapore University of Technology and Design（新加坡科技设计大学）
