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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Spin structure and spin Hall magnetoresistance of epitaxial thin films of the insulating non-collinear antiferromagnet SmFeO3

Mathias KläuiM. KurodaAndrea LocatelliM. FilianinaRomain LebrunNaoya TanahashiTevfik Onur MenteşAndrew RossW. L. GanH. AsanoFrancesca GenuzioLorenzo BaldratiTetsuya Hajiri

subject

Materials scienceMagnetoresistance530 PhysicsFOS: Physical sciences02 engineering and technologySpin structure01 natural sciencesspin Hall magnetoresistancelinear dichroismMagnetizationPEEMCondensed Matter::Materials Science0103 physical sciencesMesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)AntiferromagnetismGeneral Materials Science010306 general physicsSpin-½antiferromagnetCondensed Matter - Materials ScienceCondensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale PhysicsCondensed matter physicsX-ray magnetictechnology industry and agricultureMaterials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)Coercivity021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyCondensed Matter Physics530 PhysikMagnetic fieldPhotoemission electron microscopyorthoferriteCondensed Matter::Strongly Correlated Electrons0210 nano-technology

description

We report a combined study of imaging the antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin structure and measuring the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) in epitaxial thin films of the insulating non-collinear antiferromagnet SmFeO$_3$. X-ray magnetic linear dichroism photoemission electron microscopy measurements reveal that the AFM spins of the SmFeO$_3$(110) align in the plane of the film. Angularly dependent magnetoresistance measurements show that SmFeO$_3$/Ta bilayers exhibit a positive SMR, in contrast to the negative SMR expected in previously studied collinear AFMs. The SMR amplitude increases linearly with increasing external magnetic field at higher magnetic field, suggesting that field-induced canting of the AFM spins plays an important role. In contrast, around the coercive field, no detectable SMR signal is observed, indicating that SMR of AFM and canting magnetization components cancel out. Below 50~K, the SMR amplitude increases sizably by a factor of two as compared to room temperature, which likely correlates with the long-range ordering of the Sm ions. Our results show that the SMR is a sensitive technique for non-equilibrium spin system of non-collinear AFM systems.

10.1088/1361-648x/ab303chttp://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-648x/ab303c