Reduction of in-plane field required for spin-orbit torque magnetization reversal by insertion of Au spacer in Pt/Au/Co/Ni/Co/Ta
Name
1.4991950.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
3.11 MB
Format
Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
bd8a8595ada7f13b94ba7a2404c05127
Author(s)
Mann, Maxwell
Beach, Geoffrey
Date Issued
2017
Journal
APL Materials
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© 2017 Author(s). Spin-orbit torques and current-induced switching are studied in perpendicularly magnetized Pt/Au/(Co/Ni/Co) films as a function of Au insertion layer thickness tAu. By simultaneously varying the ferromagnet layer thickness, a parametric series of samples with nearly constant anisotropy were prepared. On this series, spin orbit torques were characterized by harmonic voltage and hysteresis loop shift measurements, and current-induced switching was examined as a function of the in-plane bias field. Little variation is seen for tAu < 0.5 nm, whereas for tAu > 0.5 nm, a series of well-correlated effects appear. Both the loop shift efficiency and the Slonczewski-like spin-orbit torque effective field double, while the in-plane field required to saturate the loop shift efficiency decreases by a factor of ∼10. Correspondingly, the current and in-plane field required for spin-orbit torque switching are reduced by about 90%. These results suggest that a thin Au insertion layer reduces the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction strength and improves spin transmission at the spin Hall metal/ferromagnet interface, substantially reducing the in-plane field and currents for spin orbit torque switching.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4991950
