Deterministic Current-Induced Perpendicular Switching in Epitaxial Co/Pt Layers without an External Field
Current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) have emerged as a powerful tool to control magnetic elements and non-uniform magnetic textures such as domain walls and skyrmions. SOT-induced switching of perpendicular magnetization generally requires an external field to break the rotational symmetry of t...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión aceptada para publicación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/334234 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/334234 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85163774814 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Deterministic switching Epitaxial Co/Pt Field-free switching Spin-orbit torques |
| Sumario: | Current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) have emerged as a powerful tool to control magnetic elements and non-uniform magnetic textures such as domain walls and skyrmions. SOT-induced switching of perpendicular magnetization generally requires an external field to break the rotational symmetry of the spin-orbit effective fields responsible for the deterministic reversal. The proposed mechanisms to eliminate this requirement often rely on complex multilayer structures that necessitate laborious optimization in the material and spin transport properties, making them less attractive for applications. Herein, current-induced, external field-free switching of an epitaxial MgO/Pt/Co trilayer with an extremely large perpendicular anisotropy in excess of 3 Tesla is reported. It is found that switching occurs due to the interplay of strong SOTs, local anisotropy fluctuations, and the Dzyaloshinkii-Moriya interaction inherent to this epitaxial system. Given that these layers constitute the base stack of a magnetic tunnel junction, this switching mechanism offers the most technologically viable path toward devices such as field-free SOT-based magnetic random-access memories. |
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