Magnetization switching in polycrystalline Mn3Sn thin film induced by self-generated spin-polarized current

Xie, Hang1; Chen, Xin1; Zhang, Qi1,2; Mu, Zhiqiang3; Zhang, Xinhai2; Yan, Binghai4; Wu, Yihong1

2022-09-30

10.1038/s41467-022-33345-2

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS   Impact Factor & Quartile

2041-1723

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.

SCI

English

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Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Tier 2 Grants["MOE2017-T2-2-011","MOE2018-T2-1-076"] ; European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant)[815869] ; Israel Science Foundation (ISF)["1251/19","3520/20","2932/21"]

Science & Technology - Other Topics

Multidisciplinary Sciences

WOS:000862415000020

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1.Natl Univ Singapore, Dept Elect & Comp Engn, Singapore 117583, Singapore
2.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Elect & Elect Engn, Xueyuan Rd 1088, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
3.Chinese Acad Sci, Shanghai Inst Microsyst & Informat Technol, State Key Lab Funct Mat Informat, Shanghai 200050, Peoples R China
4.Weizmann Inst Sci, Dept Condensed Matter Phys, IL-7610001 Rehovot, Israel

Xie, Hang,Chen, Xin,Zhang, Qi,et al. Magnetization switching in polycrystalline Mn3Sn thin film induced by self-generated spin-polarized current[J]. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS,2022,13(1).

Xie, Hang.,Chen, Xin.,Zhang, Qi.,Mu, Zhiqiang.,Zhang, Xinhai.,...&Wu, Yihong.(2022).Magnetization switching in polycrystalline Mn3Sn thin film induced by self-generated spin-polarized current.NATURE COMMUNICATIONS,13(1).

Xie, Hang,et al."Magnetization switching in polycrystalline Mn3Sn thin film induced by self-generated spin-polarized current".NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 13.1(2022).