Efficient generation of spin-orbit torques (SOTs) is central for the exciting field of spin-orbitronics. Platinum, the archetypal spin Hall material, has the potential to be an outstanding provider for spin-orbit torques due to its giant spin Hall conductivity, low resistivity, high stabilities, and the ability to be compatible with CMOS circuits. However, pure clean-limit Pt with low resistivity still provides a low damping-like spin-orbit torque efficiency, which limits its practical applications. The efficiency of spin-orbit torque in Pt-based magnetic heterostructures can be improved considerably by increasing the spin Hall ratio of Pt and spin transmissivity of the interfaces. Here we reviews recent advances in understanding the physics of spin current generation, interfacial spin transport, and the metrology of spin-orbit torques, and summarize progress towards the goal of Pt-based spin-orbit torque memories and logic that are fast, efficient, reliable, scalable, and non-volatile.
Dominant spin Hall torque and negligible orbital Hall torque in α-W/ferromagnet heterostructures with artifacts-free angular momentum detectors
State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Physics and Chip Technologies, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院半导体研究所半导体物理与芯片技术国家重点实验室）；Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学材料科学与光电工程技术研究中心）；College of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University（陕西师范大学物理学与信息技术学院）
Comments on the formula to extract current-induced torques from the harmonic Hall voltage measurements
The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；Research Institute of Electrical Communication (RIEC), Tohoku University（东北大学电气通信研究所）；Trans-Scale Quantum Science Institute (TSQS), The University of Tokyo（东京大学跨尺度量子科学研究所）
An important goal of spintronics is to covert a charge current into a spin current with a controlled spin polarization that can exert torques on an adjacent magnetic layer. Here we demonstrate such torques in a two ferromagnet system. A CoNi multilayer is used as a spin current source in a sample with structure CoNi/Au/CoFeB. Spin torque ferromagnetic resonance is used to measure the torque on the CoFeB layer. The response as a function of the applied field angle and current is consistent with the symmetry expected for a torques produced by the planar Hall effect originating in CoNi. We find t…
Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides are promising materials for spintronics due to their robust spin-valley locked valence states, enabling efficient charge-to-spin conversion via valley Hall effect with non-equilibrium spins possessing long spin diffusion lengths of hundreds of nanometers. In this work, we show that the injection of a pure valley current, induced by valley Hall effect in a WSe2 monolayer, imparts a spin torque on the magnetization of an overlaid Fe or CoFe in a tunneling structure. The torque efficiency is found to be comparable to that in conventional perpendicular ma…
Dependence of the Efficiency of Spin Hall Torque on the Transparency of Pt-Ferromagnetic Layer Interfaces
我们报告说，自旋电流传输跨铂铁磁体（FM）接口是强烈依赖于FM层的类型和厚度和后沉积处理协议。通过采用谐波电压测量和自旋扭矩铁磁共振测量，我们发现，在不同的界面条件下，Pt自旋霍尔效应施加阻尼类自旋扭矩FM的效率范围从< 0.05 to >0.10。我们还表明，温度依赖性的自旋扭矩效率的阻尼类扭矩和类场扭矩是依赖于Pt-FM接口的细节。在考虑界面自旋传输因子后，本研究中使用的Pt薄膜的“内部”自旋霍尔角估计为~ 0.20。这表明Pt-FM界面的精心设计可以提高Pt基自旋电子器件的自旋霍尔扭矩效率。
We report a comprehensive study of the maximization of the spin Hall ratio (θSH) in Pt thin films by the insertion of sub-monolayer layers of Ti to decrease carrier lifetime while minimizing the concurrent reduction in the spin Hall conductivity. We establish that the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity of Pt, while robust against the strain and the moderate interruption of crystal order caused by these insertions, begins to decrease rapidly at high resistivity level because of the shortening carrier lifetime. The unavoidable trade-off between the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity and carrier life…
We studied the effect of inserting 0.5 nm-thick spacer layers (Ti, V, Cr, Mo, W) at the Pt/Co interface on the spin-orbit torques, Hall effect, magnetoresistance, saturation magnetization, and magnetic anisotropy. We find that the damping-like spin-orbit torque decreases substantially for all samples with a spacer layer compared to the reference Pt/Co bilayer, consistently with the opposite sign of the atomic spin-orbit coupling constant of the spacer elements relative to Pt. The reduction of the damping-like torque is monotonic with atomic number for the isoelectronic 3d, 4d, and 5d elements,…
We present a detailed analysis of harmonic longitudinal and Hall voltage measurements for in-plane magnetized Pt/Co/Ta and Ta/Co/Pt trilayers in reference to Pt/Co and Ta/Co bilayers. Enhancement of spin-orbit torques (SOTs) and unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR) is achieved by introducing the second heavy metal (HM) with the opposite sign of the spin Hall angle. The extracted SOT efficiencies are larger for the trilayers as compared to the bilayers, confirming the enhanced values reported for the trilayers with perpendicularly magnetized Co. The maximum effective spin Hall angl…
Spin-orbit torques due to interfacial Rashba and spin Hall effects have been widely considered as a potentially more efficient approach than the conventional spin-transfer torque to control the magnetization of ferromagnets. We report a comprehensive study of spin-orbit torque efficiency in Ta(O)/Ni81Fe19 bilayers by tuning low-oxidation of \b{eta}-phase tantalum, and find that the spin Hall angle θDL increases from ~ -0.18 of the pure Ta/Py to the maximum value ~ -0.30 of Ta(O)/Py with 7.8% oxidation. Furthermore, we distinguish the efficiency of the spin-orbit torque generated by the bulk sp…
Spin Hall effect, an electric generation of spin current, allows for efficient control of magnetization. Recent theory revealed that orbital Hall effect creates orbital current, which can be much larger than spin Hall-induced spin current. However, orbital current cannot directly exert a torque on a ferromagnet, requiring a conversion process from orbital current to spin current. Here, we report two effective methods of the conversion through spin-orbit coupling engineering, which allows us to unambiguously demonstrate orbital-current-induced spin torque, or orbital Hall torque. We find that o…
The thickness dependence of spin-orbit torque and magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/heavy-metal bilayers is studied using the first-principles non-equilibrium Green's function formalism combined with the Anderson disorder model. A systematic expansion in orthogonal vector spherical harmonics is used for the angular dependence of the torque. The damping-like torque in Co/Pt and Co/Au bilayers can be described as a sum of the spin-Hall contribution, which increases with thickness in agreement with the spin-diffusion model, and a comparable interfacial contribution. The magnetoconductance in the p…
Time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy (TRSKM) was used to study precessional magnetization dynamics induced by a radio frequency (RF) current within a Al$_2$O$_3$/Py(5 nm)/Pt(6 nm)/Au(150 nm) spin Hall nano-oscillator structure. The Au layer was formed into two needle-shaped electrical contacts that concentrated the current in the centre of a Py/Pt mesa of 4 $μ$m diameter. Due to the spin Hall effect, current within the Pt layer drives a spin current into the Py layer, exerting a spin transfer torque (STT). By injecting RF current, and exploiting the phase-sensitivity of TRSKM and the symmetr…
The spin Hall effect originating from 5d heavy transition metal thin films such as Pt, Ta, and W is able to generate efficient spin-orbit torques that can switch adjacent magnetic layers. This mechanism can serve as an alternative to conventional spin-transfer torque for controlling next-generation magnetic memories. Among all 5d transition metals, W in its resistive amorphous phase typically shows the largest spin-orbit torque efficiency ~ 0.20-0.50. In contrast, its conductive and crystalline $α$ phase possesses a significantly smaller efficiency ~ 0.03 and no spin-orbit torque switching has…
Polar and quadratic magneto-optical Kerr effects in nonmagnetic/ferromagnet bilayers for spin-orbit torque measurements
The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；Research Institute of Electrical Communication (RIEC), Tohoku University（东北大学电气通信研究所）；Mie University（三重大学）；Trans-scale quantum science institute (TSQS), The University of Tokyo（东京大学跨尺度量子科学研究所）
Determination of the Spin-Hall-Effect-Induced and the Wedged-Structure-Induced Spin Torque Efficiencies in Heterostructures with Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy
Harmonic analysis is a powerful tool to characterize and quantify current-induced torques acting on magnetic materials, but so far it remains an open question in studying antiferromagnets. Here we formulate a general theory of harmonic Hall responses of collinear antiferromagnets driven by current-induced torques including both field-like and damping-like components. By scanning a magnetic field of variable strength in three orthogonal planes, we are able to distinguish the contributions from field-like torque, damping-like torque, and concomitant thermal effects by analyzing the second harmon…
It has been shown that the spin Hall effect from heavy transition metals can generate sufficient spin-orbit torque and further produce current-induced magnetization switching in the adjacent ferromagnetic layer. However, if the ferromagnetic layer has in-plane magnetic anisotropy, probing such switching phenomenon typically relies on tunneling magnetoresistance measurement of nano-sized magnetic tunnel junctions, differential planar Hall voltage measurement, or Kerr imaging approaches. We show that in magnetic heterostructures with spin Hall metals, there exist current-induced in-plane spin Ha…
Spin-Orbital Hall Nano-Oscillators using PtCr/NiFe
University of Gothenburg（哥德堡大学）；Tohoku University（东北大学）；Uppsala University（乌普萨拉大学）；Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology（越南科学技术院）；Chalmers University of Technology（查尔姆斯理工大学）
We present the first measurements of Hall conductivity utilizing a new torque magnetometry method designed for insulators. A Corbino disk exhibits a magnetic dipole moment proportional to Hall conductivity when voltage is applied across a test material. This magnetic dipole moment can be measured through torque magnetometry. The symmetry of this contactless technique allows for the measurement of Hall conductivity in previously inaccessible materials. Finally, a low-temperature noise bound, the lack of systematic errors on dummy devices, and a measurement of the Hall conductivity of sputtered …
