Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 47: Focus Session: Spinorbitronics – from efficient charge/spin conversion based on spin-orbit coupling to chiral magnetic skyrmions II (joint session MA/TT)

MA 47.9: Talk

Thursday, March 15, 2018, 17:30–17:45, H 1012

Current-induced remagnetization in epitaxial Au/Fe/MgO(001) heterostructures — •Pika Gospodaric¹, Ewa Mlynczak¹, Daniel E. Bürgler¹, Lukasz Plucinski¹, Yuriy Mokrousov², and Claus M. Schneider¹ — ¹Peter Grünberg Institut PGI-6, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany — ²Peter Grünberg Institut & Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, 52425 Jülich, Germany

In the emerging field of the spintronics devices the focus shifts towards the three-terminal cell structure. In this geometry, the magnetization of the recording magnetic layer is switched with an in-plane electric current. Presently, the spin-orbit torque is considered as one of the most promising ways of current-induced switching of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Here, we study an epitaxial Fe(001) ultra-thin film, with in-plane remanent magnetization, sandwiched between the MgO substrate and an epitaxal Au thin film. This system has well-defined interfaces between the layers and a good crystalline quality, which gives rise to the typical four-fold in-plane magneto-crystalline anisotropy of Fe(001) layers. In a Hall bar geometry we observed reproducible switching of the magnetization of the Fe(001) thin film after applying a current density beyond 2· 10⁷ A/cm². The magnetic state was read-out by measuring the planar Hall voltage in the transversal channel. By varying the current density we were able to induce intermediate magnetization states, which could be explained with changes in the magnetic domain structure. These results give the prospect to apply Fe/Au heterostructures in neuromorphic architectures.