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Spin–orbit-driven ferromagnetic resonance

Nature Nanotechnology volume 6, pages 413–417 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Ferromagnetic resonance is the most widely used technique for characterizing ferromagnetic materials1. However, its use is generally restricted to wafer-scale samples or specific micro-magnetic devices, such as spin valves, which have a spatially varying magnetization profile and where ferromagnetic resonance can be induced by an alternating current owing to angular momentum transfer2,3,4. Here we introduce a form of ferromagnetic resonance in which an electric current oscillating at microwave frequencies is used to create an effective magnetic field in the magnetic material being probed, which makes it possible to characterize individual nanoscale samples with uniform magnetization profiles. The technique takes advantage of the microscopic non-collinearity of individual electron spins arising from spin–orbit coupling and bulk or structural inversion asymmetry in the band structure of the sample5,6. We characterize lithographically patterned (Ga,Mn)As and (Ga,Mn)(As,P) nanoscale bars, including broadband measurements of resonant damping as a function of frequency, and measurements of anisotropy as a function of bar width and strain. In addition, vector magnetometry on the driving fields reveals contributions with the symmetry of both the Dresselhaus and Rashba spin–orbit interactions.

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Figure 1: Principle of the experiment and setup.
Figure 2: Spin–orbit-driven ferromagnetic resonance.
Figure 3: Characterization of the driving field in both (Ga,Mn)As and (Ga,Mn)(As,P) devices.
Figure 4: SO-FMR on devices patterned from different materials and with various sizes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge fruitful discussions with I. Garate, A. H. MacDonald and L. Rokhinson and support from EU grants FP7-214499 NAMASTE, FP7-215368 SemiSpinNet, ERC Advanced Grant, from Czech Republic grants AV0Z10100521, KAN400100652, LC510, KJB100100802 and Praemium Academiae. D.F. acknowledges support from the Cambridge Overseas Trusts and Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory. A.J.F. acknowledges the support of a Hitachi research fellowship.

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Author notes

  1. K. Výborný

    Present address: Present address: Department of Physics, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microelectronics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK

    D. Fang, H. Kurebayashi & A. J. Ferguson

  2. Institute of Physics ASCR, v.v.i., Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Praha 6, Czech Republic

    J. Wunderlich, K. Výborný, L. P. Zârbo & T. Jungwirth

  3. Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK

    J. Wunderlich

  4. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    R. P. Campion, A. Casiraghi, B. L. Gallagher & T. Jungwirth

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  1. D. Fang
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Contributions

D.F. and A.J.F. carried out device fabrication. D.F., H.K., J.W. and A.J.F. conducted experiments and carried out data analysis. K.V., L.P.Z. and T.J. developed the theory. R.P.C., A.C. and B.L.G. provided materials. D.F., A.J.F., T.J., L.P.Z., K.V., H.K. and J.W. all contributed to writing the manuscript. A.J.F. planned the project.

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Correspondence to A. J. Ferguson.

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Fang, D., Kurebayashi, H., Wunderlich, J. et al. Spin–orbit-driven ferromagnetic resonance. Nature Nanotech 6, 413–417 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.68

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