6533b857fe1ef96bd12b4f74
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Direct Imaging of Current-Induced Antiferromagnetic Switching Revealing a Pure Thermomagnetoelastic Switching Mechanism in NiO.
Olena GomonayHendrik MeerC. SchmittLorenzo BaldratiMathias KläuiEiji SaitohJairo SinovaJairo SinovaFelix SchreiberRafael RamosRafael Ramossubject
Materials scienceMagnetic domain530 PhysicsFOS: Physical sciencesBioengineering02 engineering and technologyThermalMesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)AntiferromagnetismTorqueGeneral Materials ScienceCondensed Matter - Materials ScienceCondensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale PhysicsCondensed matter physicsSpintronicsMechanical EngineeringNon-blocking I/OMaterials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)General Chemistry021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyCondensed Matter Physics530 PhysikMechanism (engineering)Condensed Matter::Strongly Correlated ElectronsCurrent (fluid)0210 nano-technologydescription
We unravel the origin of current-induced magnetic switching of insulating antiferromagnet/heavy metal systems. We utilize concurrent transport and magneto-optical measurements to image the switching of antiferromagnetic domains in specially engineered devices of NiO/Pt bilayers. Different electrical pulsing and device geometries reveal different final states of the switching with respect to the current direction. We can explain these through simulations of the temperature induced strain and we identify the thermomagnetoelastic switching mechanism combined with thermal excitations as the origin, in which the final state is defined by the strain distributions and heat is required to switch the antiferromagnetic domains. We show that such a potentially very versatile non-contact mechanism can explain the previously reported contradicting observations of the switching final state, which were attributed to spin-orbit torque mechanisms.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-08-12 | Nano letters |