Nature Communications ( IF 14.7 ) Pub Date : 2022-09-30 , DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33345-2 Hang Xie 1 , Xin Chen 1 , Qi Zhang 1, 2 , Zhiqiang Mu 3 , Xinhai Zhang 2 , Binghai Yan 4 , Yihong Wu 1
Electrical manipulation of spins is essential to design state-of-the-art spintronic devices and commonly relies on the spin current injected from a second heavy-metal material. The fact that chiral antiferromagnets produce spin current inspires us to explore the magnetization switching of chiral spins using self-generated spin torque. Here, we demonstrate the electric switching of noncollinear antiferromagnetic state in Mn3Sn by observing a crossover from conventional spin-orbit torque to the self-generated spin torque when increasing the MgO thickness in Ta/MgO/Mn3Sn polycrystalline films. The spin current injection from the Ta layer can be controlled and even blocked by varying the MgO thickness, but the switching sustains even at a large MgO thickness. Furthermore, the switching polarity reverses when the MgO thickness exceeds around 3 nm, which cannot be explained by the spin-orbit torque scenario due to spin current injection from the Ta layer. Evident current-induced switching is also observed in MgO/Mn3Sn and Ti/Mn3Sn bilayers, where external injection of spin Hall current to Mn3Sn is negligible. The inter-grain spin-transfer torque induced by spin-polarized current explains the experimental observations. Our findings provide an alternative pathway for electrical manipulation of non-collinear antiferromagnetic state without resorting to the conventional bilayer structure.
中文翻译:
自激自旋极化电流诱导多晶 Mn3Sn 薄膜的磁化转换
自旋的电操纵对于设计最先进的自旋电子器件至关重要,并且通常依赖于从第二种重金属材料注入的自旋电流。手性反铁磁体产生自旋电流的事实激发了我们利用自生自旋扭矩探索手性自旋的磁化转换。在这里,我们通过观察在 Ta/MgO/Mn 3中增加 MgO 厚度时从常规自旋轨道扭矩到自生自旋扭矩的交叉,证明了 Mn 3 Sn中非共线反铁磁态的电转换。Sn多晶薄膜。通过改变 MgO 厚度,可以控制甚至阻止来自 Ta 层的自旋电流注入,但即使在较大的 MgO 厚度下,这种切换也能维持。此外,当 MgO 厚度超过 3 nm 左右时,开关极性会反转,这不能用来自 Ta 层的自旋电流注入导致的自旋轨道扭矩情景来解释。在 MgO/Mn 3 Sn 和 Ti/Mn 3 Sn 双层中也观察到明显的电流感应开关,其中自旋霍尔电流外部注入到 Mn 3Sn 可以忽略不计。由自旋极化电流引起的晶粒间自旋转移矩解释了实验观察。我们的研究结果为非共线反铁磁状态的电操纵提供了一种替代途径,而无需求助于传统的双层结构。