Our world is composed of various materials with different structures, where spin structures have been playing a pivotal role in spintronic devices of the contemporary information technology. Apart from conventional collinear spin materials such as collinear ferromagnets and collinear antiferromagnetically coupled materials, noncollinear spintronic materials have emerged as hot spots of research attention owing to exotic physical phenomena. In this Review, we firstly introduce two types noncollinear spin structures, i.e., the chiral spin structure that yields real-space Berry phases and the coplanar noncollinear spin structure that could generate momentum-space Berry phases, and then move to relevant novel physical phenomena including topological Hall effect, anomalous Hall effect, multiferroic, Weyl fermions, spin-polarized current, and spin Hall effect without spin-orbit coupling in these noncollinear spin systems. Afterwards, we summarize and elaborate the electric-field control of the noncollinear spin structure and related physical effects, which could enable ultralow power spintronic devices in future. In the final outlook part, we emphasize the importance and possible routes for experimentally detecting the intriguing theoretically predicted spin-polarized current, verifying the spin Hall effect in the absence of spin-orbit coupling and exploring the anisotropic magnetoresistance and domain-wall-related magnetoresistance effects for noncollinear antiferromagnetic materials.
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 investigate the spin transport through strongly anisotropic noncollinear magnetic molecules and find that the noncollinear magnetization acts as a spin-switching device for the current. Moreover, spin currents are shown to offer a viable route to selectively prepare the molecular device in one of two degenerate noncollinear magnetic states. Spin-currents can be also used to create a non-zero density of toroidal magnetization in a recently characterized Dy_3 noncollinear magnet.
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 - …
Non-collinear antiferromagnetic materials have received dramatically increasing attention in the field of spintronics as their exotic topological features such as the Berry-curvature-induced anomalous Hall effect and possible magnetic Weyl states could be utilized in future topological antiferromagnetic spintronic devices. In this work, we report the successful integration of the antiferromagnetic metal Mn3Sn thin films onto ferroelectric oxide PMN-PT. By optimizing growth, we realized the large anomalous Hall effect with small switching magnetic fields of several tens mT fully comparable to t…
We analyze a quantum-classical hybrid system of steadily precessing slow classical localized magnetic moments, forming a head-to-head domain wall, embedded into an open quantum system of fast nonequilibrium electrons. The electrons reside within a metallic wire connected to macroscopic reservoirs. The model captures the essence of dynamical noncollinear and noncoplanar magnetic textures in spintronics, while making it possible to obtain the exact time-dependent nonequilibrium density matrix of electronic system and split it into four contributions. The Fermi surface contribution generates diss…
Antiferromagnetic (AFM) spintronics has emerged as a subfield of spintronics driven by the advantages of antiferromagnets producing no stray fields and exhibiting ultrafast magnetization dynamics. The efficient method to detect an AFM order parameter, known as the Néel vector, by electric means is critical to realize concepts of AFM spintronics. Here, we demonstrate that non-collinear AFM metals, such as Mn3Sn, exhibit a momentum dependent spin polarization which can be exploited in AFM tunnel junctions to detect the Néel vector. Using first-principles calculations based on density functional …
Multi-rotational switching in a noncollinear antiferromagnet by spin-orbit torque
Tohoku University（东北大学）；National Institute for Materials Science（物质材料研究机构）；National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology（量子科学技术研究开发机构）；Inamori Research Institute for Science（稻盛科学研究所）
Spin-polarized currents play a key role in spintronics. Recently, it has been found that antiferromagnets with a non-spin-degenerate band structure can efficiently spin-polarize electric currents, even though their net magnetization is zero. Among the antiferromagnetic metals with magnetic space group symmetry supporting this functionality, the noncollinear antiferromagnetic antiperovskites ANMn$_3$ (A = Ga, Ni, Sn, and Pt) are especially promising. This is due to their high Néel temperatures and a good lattice match to perovskite oxide substrates, offering possibilities of high structural qua…
We demonstrate the generation of high order harmonics in carrier pumping from precessing ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic orders, excited via magnetic resonance, in the presence of topological antiferromagnetic textures. This results in an enhancement of the carrier dynamics by orders of magnitude. Interestingly, the generation process occurs in an intrinsic manner, and is solely governed by the interplay between the s-d exchange coupling underlying the noncollinear antiferromagnetic order and the dynamical s-d exchange parameter of the magnetic drive. Therefore, the relativistic spin-orbit …
Antiferromagnets (AFMs), in contrast to ferromagnets, show a nontrivial magnetic structure with zero net magnetization. However, they share a number of spintronic effects with ferromagnets, including spin-pumping and spin transfer torques. Both phenomena stem from the coupled dynamics of free carriers and localized magnetic moments. In the present paper I study the adiabatic dynamics of a spin-polarized electrons in a metallic AFM exhibiting a noncollinear 120$^\circ$ magnetic structure. I show that the slowly varying AFM spin texture produces a non-Abelian gauge potential related to the time/…
We investigate the emergence of both quantum anomalous Hall and disorder-induced Anderson Chern insulating phases in two dimensional hexagonal lattices, with antiferromagnetically ordered 3Q state and in the absence of spin-orbit coupling. Using tight-binding modeling, we show that such systems display not only a spin-polarized edge-localized current, the chirality of which is energy dependent but also an impurity-induced transition from trivial metallic to topological insulating regimes, through one edge mode plateau. We compute the gaps' phase diagrams, and demonstrate the robustness of the …
In recent years, noncollinear topological textures have long gained increasing research attentions for their high values of both fundamental researches and potential applications. The recent discovery of intrinsic orders in magnetic and polar two-dimensional van der Waals materials provides a new ideal platform for the investigation of noncollinear topological textures. Here, we review the theoretical and experimental progresses on noncollinear topological textures in two-dimensional van der Waals materials in very recent years. During these years, magnetic skyrmions of both Bloch and Néel typ…
The discovery of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals magnets opened unprecedented opportunities for the fundamental exploration of magnetism in quantum materials and the realization of next generation spintronic devices. Here, based on a multiscale modelling approach that combines first-principles calculations and a Heisenberg model supplied with ab-initio parameters, we report a strong magnetoelastic coupling in a free-standing monolayer of CrTe$_2$. We demonstrate that different crystal structures of a single CrTe$_2$ give rise to non-collinear magnetism through magnetic frustration and emerg…
The combination of topology and magnetism is attractive to produce exotic quantum matters, such as the quantum anomalous Hall state, axion insulators and the magnetic Weyl semimetals. MnBi2Te4, as an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator, provides a platform for the realization of various topological phases. Here we report the intermediate Hall steps in the magnetic hysteresis of MnBi2Te4, where four distinguishable magnetic memory states at zero magnetic field are revealed. The gate and temperature dependence of the magnetic intermediate states indicates the noncollinear spin structure in …
Optically induced spin currents have proven to be useful in spintronics applications, allowing for sub-ps all-optical control of magnetization. However, the mechanism responsible for their generation is still heavily debated. Here we use the excitation of spin-current induced THz spin-waves in noncollinear bilayer structures to directly study optical spin-currents in the time domain. We measure a significant laser-fluence dependence of the spin-wave phase, which can quantitatively be explained assuming the spin current is proportional to the time derivative of the magnetization. Measurements o…
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 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 …
In recent years, the field of antiferromagnetic spintronics has been substantially advanced. Electric-field control is a promising approach to achieving ultra-low power spintronic devices via suppressing Joule heating. In this article, cutting-edge research, including electric-field modulation of antiferromagnetic spintronic devices using strain, ionic liquids, dielectric materials, and electrochemical ionic migration, are comprehensively reviewed. Various emergent topics such as the Neel spin-orbit torque, chiral spintronics, topological antiferromagnetic spintronics, anisotropic magnetoresis…
A major impediment towards realizing technologies based on the emerging principles of antiferromagnetic spintronics is the shortage of suitable materials. In this paper, we propose a design of polar|nonpolar heterostructures of perovskite oxides, where a single unit cell of SrIrO3 is sandwiched between a thin film of LaAlO3 and a substrate of SrTiO3. Our calculations within the framework of density-functional theory + Hubbard U + spin-orbit coupling reveal a two-dimensional conducting layer with electron and hole pockets at the interface, exhibiting a strong anisotropic Rashba-Dresselhaus effe…
Using an electric field instead of an electric current (or a magnetic field) to tailor the electronic properties of magnetic materials is promising for realizing ultralow energy-consuming memory devices because of the suppression of Joule heating, especially when the devices are scaled to the nanoscale. In the review, we summarize recent results on the giant magnetization and resistivity modulation in a metamagnetic intermetallic alloy - FeRh, which is achieved by electric-field-controlled magnetic phase transitions in multiferroic heterostructures. Furthermore, the approach is extended to top…
We show that proper control of magnetization textures can be achieved in noncollinear antiferromagnets. This opens the versatile toolbox of domain-wall manipulation in the context of a different family of materials. In this way, we show that noncollinear antiferromagnets are a good prospect for applications in the context of antiferromagnetic spintronics. As in many noncollinear antiferromagnets, the order parameter field takes values in SO(3). By performing a gradient expansion in the energy functional we derive an effective theory that accounts for the physics of the magnetization of long-wa…
Noncollinear spin textures and 90° domain walls in twisted XY magnets
WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), Tohoku University（东北大学材料高等研究院）；Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University（东北大学前沿交叉科学研究院）；Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University（普渡大学埃尔莫电气与计算机工程学院）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University（普渡大学物理与天文学系）；Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University（普渡大学量子科学与工程研究所及伯克纳米技术中心）；Institute of Physics and Astronomy and Villum Centers for Hybrid Quantum Materials and devices, Aarhus University（奥胡斯大学物理与天文研究所及维伦混合量子材料与器件中心）；Institute for Materials Research (IMR), Tohoku University（东北大学材料研究所）；School of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Opto-electronic Functional Materials & Micro-nano Devices, Renmin University of China（中国人民大学物理学院及光电功能材料与微纳器件北京市重点实验室）；Key Laboratory of Quantum State Construction and Manipulation (Ministry of Education), Renmin University of China（中国人民大学量子态构建与操控教育部重点实验室）；Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials, National Institute for Materials Science（物质材料研究机构电子与光学材料研究中心）；Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science（物质材料研究机构材料纳米架构研究中心）
Higher-order Hall response arises from octupole order and scalar spin chirality in a noncollinear antiferromagnet
Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz（约翰内斯·古腾堡美因茨大学）；Forschungszentrum Jülich（于利希研究中心）；Yeshiva University（叶史瓦大学）；Universidad de Salamanca（萨拉曼卡大学）；King Abdullah University of Science and Technology（阿卜杜拉国王科技大学）
We study the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) interaction mediated by helical edge states in quantum spin hall system. The helical edge states induce an in-plane noncollinear exchange coupling between two local spins, in contrast to the isotropic coupling induced in normal metal. The angle between the two local spins in the ground state depends on the Fermi level. This property may be used to control the angle of spins by tuning the electric gate.
We study the electronic transport through a noncollinear single-electron spin-valve transistor. It consists of a small metallic island weakly coupled to two ferromagnetic leads with noncollinear magnetization directions. The electric current is influenced by Coulomb charging and by spin accumulation. Furthermore, the interplay of Coulomb interaction and tunnel coupling to spin-polarized leads yields a many-body exchange field, in which the accumulated island spin precesses. We analyze the effects of this exchange field in both the linear and nonlinear transport regime. In particular, we find t…
We study in this paper the edge polarizations and their consequences for a biased Bernal stacked bilayer graphene nanoribbon with zigzag termination. The magnetic states are classified according to the interlayer and intralayer couplings between the edge polarizations, and the magnetic phase diagram of doping versus bias voltage is given. Coplanar magnetic phase is found and the variation of its magnetic structure with the bias voltage is investigated. For all the magnetic states, we also discuss the possibility of the half-metallicity, and for a ribbon with perfect zigzag edges we predict sev…
Noncollinear antiferromagnets with a D0$_{19}$ (space group = 194, P6$_{3}$/mmc) hexagonal structure have garnered much attention for their potential applications in topological spintronics. Here, we report the deposition of continuous epitaxial thin films of such a material, Mn$_{3}$Sn, and characterize their crystal structure using a combination of x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Growth of Mn$_{3}$Sn films with both (0001) c-axis orientation and (40$\bar{4}$3) texture is achieved. In the latter case, the thin films exhibit a small uncompensated Mn moment in the basal …
We present a theoretical formalism to address the dynamics of textured, noncolliear antiferromagnets subject to spin current injection. We derive sine-Gordon type equations of motion for the antiferromagnets, which are applicable to technologically important antiferromagnets such as Mn3Ir and Mn3Sn, and enables an analytical approach to domain wall dynamics in those materials. We obtain the expression for domain wall velocity, which is estimated to reach around 1 km/s in Mn3Ir by exploiting spin Hall effect with electric current density around 10^11A/m^2.
Spin-dependent electronic transport through a quantum dot has been analyzed theoretically in the cotunneling regime by means of the second-order perturbation theory. The system is described by the impurity Anderson Hamiltonian with arbitrary Coulomb correlation parameter $U$. It is assumed that the dot level is intrinsically spin-split due to an effective molecular field exerted by a magnetic substrate. The dot is coupled to two ferromagnetic leads whose magnetic moments are noncollinear. The angular dependence of electric current, tunnel magnetoresistance, and differential conductance are pre…
All-electrically controlled spintronics in altermagnetic heterostructures
School of Science, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学科学学院）；School of Physics and Materials Science, Guangzhou University（广州大学物理与材料科学学院）；School of Humanities and Basic Sciences, Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology（深圳信息职业技术学院人文基础学院）；Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology（宁波工程学院材料研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University（乌普萨拉大学物理与天文学系）
The recently-proposed coupling between the angular momentum density and magnetic moment [A. Raeliarijaona et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 137205 (2013)] is shown here to result in the prediction of (i) novel spin currents generated by an electrical current and (ii) new electrical currents induced by a spin current in systems possessing specific interfaces between two different materials. Some of these spin (electrical) currents can be reversed near the interface by reversing the applied electrical (spin) current. Similarities and differences between these novel spintronic effects and the well-kno…
We show that a carbon nanotube can serve as a functional electric weak link performing photo-spintronic transduction. A spin current, facilitated by strong spin-orbit interactions in the nanotube and not accompanied by a charge current, is induced in a device containing the nanotube weak link by circularly polarized microwaves. Nanomechanical tuning of the photo-spintronic transduction can be achieved due to the sensitivity of the spin-orbit interaction to geometrical deformations of the weak link.
We propose a spintronic device to generate spin polarization in a mesoscopic region by purely electric means. We show that the spin Hall effect in combination with the stirring effect are sufficient to induce measurable spin polarization in a closed geometry. Our device structure does not require the application of magnetic fields, external radiation or ferromagnetic leads, and can be implemented in standard semiconducting materials.
Antiferromagnetic spintronics is an emerging research field whose focus is on the electrical and optical control of the antiferromagnetic order parameter and its utility in information technology devices. An example of recently discovered new concepts is the Néel spin-orbit torque which allows for the antiferromagnetic order parameter to be controlled by an electrical current in common microelectronic circuits. In this review we discuss the utility of antiferromagnets as active and supporting materials for spintronics, the interplay of antiferromagnetic spintronics with other modern research f…
Efficient control of magnetism with electric means is a central issue of current spintronics research, which opens an opportunity to design integrated spintronic devices. However, recent well-studied methods are mostly based on electric-current injection, and they are inevitably accompanied by considerable energy losses through Joule heating. Here we theoretically propose a way to exert spin torques into magnetic bilayer systems by application of electric voltages through taking advantage of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. The torques resemble the well-known electric-current-induced torques…
The helicity of a circularly polarized light beam may be determined by the spin direction of photo-excited electrons in a III-V semiconductor. We present a theoretical demonstration how the direction of the ensuing electron spin polarization may be determined by electrical means of two ferromagnet/semiconductor Schottky barriers. The proposed scheme allows for time-resolved detection of spin accumulation in small structures and may have a device application.
Spintronics involves the study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. The fascinating spin-resolved properties of graphene motivate numerous researchers into the studies of spintronics in graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials. Silicene, silicon analog of graphene, is considered as a promising material for spintronics. Here, we present a review on the theoretical advances about the spin-dependent properties including the electric field and exchange field tunable topological properties of silicene and the corresponding spintronic device …
Compared to monolayer graphene, electrons in Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene (BLG) have an additional layer degree of freedom, offering a platform for developing {\it layered spintronics} with the help of proximity-induced magnetism. Based on an effective phenomenological model, we systematically study the effect of this magnetism on the spin-dependent band structure near the Fermi energy and identify the magnetic phases induced in BLG by proximity with magnets. We show that spin polarization can develop in BLG due to this proximity effect. This spin polarization depends strongly on the layer …
The idea to utilize not only the charge but also the spin of electrons in the operation of electronic devices has led to the development of spintronics, causing a revolution in how information is stored and processed. A novel advancement would be to develop ultrafast spintronics using femtosecond laser pulses. Employing terahertz (10$^{12}$ Hz) emission spectroscopy, we demonstrate optical generation of spin-polarized electric currents at the interfaces of metallic ferromagnetic heterostructures at the femtosecond timescale. The direction of the photocurrent is controlled by the helicity of th…
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…
The phenomenon of spin transfer torque (STT) has attracted a great deal of interests due to its promising prospects in practical spintronic devices. In this paper, we report a theoretical investigation of STT in a noncollinear magnetic tunnel junction under ac modulation based on the nonequilibrium Green's function formalism, and derive a closed-formulation for predicting the time-averaged STT. Using this formulation, the ac STT of a carbon-nanotube-based magnetic tunnel junction is analyzed. Under ac modulation, the low-bias linear (quadratic) dependence of the in-plane (out-of-plane) torque …
Topological antiferromagnetic (AFM) spintronics is an emerging field of research, which exploits the Néel vector to control the topological electronic states and the associated spin-dependent transport properties. A recently discovered Néel spin-orbit torque has been proposed to electrically manipulate Dirac band crossings in antiferromagnets; however, a reliable AFM material to realize these properties in practice is missing. Here, we predict that room temperature AFM metal MnPd$_{2}$ allows the electrical control of the Dirac nodal line by the Néel spin-orbit torque. Based on first-principle…
