Allgemein

 

 

Hybrid quantum anomalous Hall effect at graphene-oxide interfaces

Z. Zanolli, C. Niu, G. Bihlmayer, Y. Mokrousov, P. Mavropoulos, M. J. Verstraete, and S. Blügel

Physical Review B 98, 155404 (2018)

Interfaces are ubiquitous in materials science, and in devices in particular. As device dimensions are constantly shrinking, understanding the physical properties emerging at interfaces is crucial to exploit them for applications, here for spintronics. Using first-principles techniques and Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the mutual magnetic interaction at the interface between graphene and an antiferromagnetic semiconductor ${\mathrm{BaMnO}}_3$. We find that graphene deeply affects the magnetic state of the substrate, down to several layers below the interface, by inducing an overall magnetic softening, and switching the in-plane magnetic ordering from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic. The graphene-${\mathrm{BaMnO}}_3$ system presents a Rashba gap 300 times larger than in pristine graphene, leading to a flavor of quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), a hybrid QAHE, characterized by the coexistence of metallic and topological insulating states. These findings could be exploited to fabricate devices that use graphene to control the magnetic configuration of a substrate.

Modification of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya-Interaction-Stabilized Domain Wall Chirality by Driving Currents

G. V. Karnad, F. Freimuth, E. Martinez, R. Lo Conte, G. Gubbiotti, T. Schulz, S. Senz, B. Ocker, Y. Mokrousov, and M. Kläui

Physical Review Letters 121, 147203 (2018)

We measure and analyze the chirality of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya-interaction (DMI) stabilized spin textures in multilayers of $\mathrm{Ta/}{\mathrm{Co}}_{20}{F}_{60}{B}_{\mathrm{20/}}\mathrm{MgO}$. The effective DMI is measured experimentally using domain wall motion measurements, both in the presence (using spin-orbit torques) and absence of driving currents (using magnetic fields). We observe that the current-induced domain wall motion yields a change in effective DMI magnitude and opposite domain wall chirality when compared to field-induced domain wall motion (without current). We explore this effect, which we refer to as current-induced DMI, by providing possible explanations for its emergence, and explore the possibility of its manifestation in the framework of recent theoretical predictions of DMI modifications due to spin currents.

 

Engineering Chiral and Topological Orbital Magnetism of Domain Walls and Skyrmions

F. Lux, F. Freimuth, S. Blügel, Y. Mokrousov

Communications Physics 1, 60 (2018)

Electrons which are slowly moving through chiral magnetic textures can effectively be described as if they where influenced by electromagnetic fields emerging from the real-space topology. This adiabatic viewpoint has been very successful in predicting physical properties of chiral magnets. Here, based on a rigorous quantum-mechanical approach, we unravel the emergence of chiral and topological orbital magnetism in one- and two-dimensional spin systems. We uncover that the quantized orbital magnetism in the adiabatic limit can be understood as a Landau-Peierls response to the emergent magnetic field. Our central result is that the spin-orbit interaction in interfacial skyrmions and domain walls can be used to tune the orbital magnetism over orders of magnitude by merging the real-space topology with the topology in reciprocal space. Our findings point out the route to experimental engineering of orbital properties of chiral spin systems, thereby paving the way to the field of chiral orbitronics.

Jan-Philipp Hanke defended today his PhD thesis with the title "Topological properties of complex magnets from an advanced ab-initio Wannier description"  -  way to go Jan!

Spin-orbit torques and tunable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in Co/Cu/Co trilayers

Frank Freimuth, Stefan Blügel, and Yuriy Mokrousov

Phys. Rev. B 98, 024419 – Published 23 July 2018

https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.024419

We study the spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in Co/Cu/Co magnetic trilayers based on first-principles density-functional theory calculations in the case where the applied electric field lies in-plane, i.e., parallel to the interfaces. We assume that the bottom Co layer has a fixed in-plane magnetization, while the top Co layer can be switched. We find that the SOT on the top ferromagnet can be controlled by the bottom ferromagnet because of the nonlocal character of the SOT in this system. As a consequence the SOT is anisotropic, i.e., its magnitude varies with the direction of the applied electric field. We show that the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in the top layer is anisotropic as well, i.e., the spin-spiral wavelength of spin spirals in the top layer depends on their in-plane propagation direction. This effect suggests that DMI can be tuned easily in magnetic trilayers via the magnetization direction of the bottom layer. In order to understand the influence of the bottom ferromagnet on the SOTs and the DMI of the top ferromagnet, we study these effects in Co/Cu magnetic bilayers for comparison. We find the SOTs and the DMI to be surprisingly large despite the small spin-orbit interaction of Cu.

An exciting event ahead!

https://idw-online.de/de/news703627

Ultrafast Spintronics: from Fundamentals to Technology

Mainz, Germany: October 23rd - 26th 2018

The 21st century digital economy and technology is presently facing fundamental scaling limits (heating and the superparamagnetic limit) as well as societal challenges: the move to mobile devices and the increasing demand of cloud storage leads to an enormous increase in energy consumption of our ICT infrastructure. These developments require new strategies and paradigm shifts, such as spin-based technologies and the introduction of photonic processors. Currently, photons are used for information transport, electrons for processing and spins for storage. Future developments will require integration of these separate technologies. Spintronic or spin-based memory such as Spin-torque transfer magnetic Random Access Memory (STT-RAM) is one concept that may revolutionize memory technology. The ability to control spins and macroscopic magnetic ordering by means of femtosecond laser pulses provides an alternative and energy efficient approach to magnetic recording. But this will only provide a novel and energy efficient alternative to current data storage if spintronics can be integrated with photonics. Such integration may also allow faster spin logic. Antiferromagnetic materials may provide another alternative for fast spintronics, but there are still many challenges. In this workshop we want to discuss recent developments in this exciting field as well as the challenges that lay ahead.

 

Organizers

Yuriy Mokrousov, Julich
Theo Rasing, Radboud

Invited Speakers

Marie Barthelemy, Strasbourg Jeffrey Bokor, Berkeley Davide Bossini, Dortmund Chiara Cicarelli, Cambridge Enrique Del Barco, Florida Carl Davies, Nijmegen Bernard Dieny, INAC Stefan Eisebitt, Berlin Wanxiang Feng, Beijing Frank Freimuth, Julich Olena Gomonay, Mainz Martjin Heck, Aarhus Wolfgang Hübner, Kaiserslautern Bert Koopmans, Eindhoven Mo Li, Minnesota Stephane Mangin, Nancy

Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy, Nijmegen Markus Munzenberg, Greifswald Kamil Olejnik, Prague Peter Oppeneer, Uppsala Thomas Ostler, Sheffield Anna Pogrebna, Nijmegen Lucian Prejbeanu, INAC Sangeeta Sharma, Halle Dries van Thourhout, Ghent University Clemens von Korff Schmising, Berlin Martin Weinelt, Berlin Kihiro Yamada, Nijmegen Konstantin A. Zvezdin, Moscow Anatoly K. Zvezdin, Moscow