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Observation of anti-damping spin–orbit torques generated by in-plane and out-of-plane spin polarizations in MnPd3

Nature Materials volume 22, pages 591–598 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Large spin–orbit torques (SOTs) generated by topological materials and heavy metals interfaced with ferromagnets are promising for next-generation magnetic memory and logic devices. SOTs generated from y spin originating from spin Hall and Edelstein effects can realize field-free magnetization switching only when the magnetization and spin are collinear. Here we circumvent the above limitation by utilizing unconventional spins generated in a MnPd3 thin film grown on an oxidized silicon substrate. We observe conventional SOT due to y spin, and out-of-plane and in-plane anti-damping-like torques originated from z spin and x spin, respectively, in MnPd3/CoFeB heterostructures. Notably, we have demonstrated complete field-free switching of perpendicular cobalt via out-of-plane anti-damping-like SOT. Density functional theory calculations show that the observed unconventional torques are due to the low symmetry of the (114)-oriented MnPd3 films. Altogether our results provide a path toward realization of a practical spin channel in ultrafast magnetic memory and logic devices.

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Fig. 1: Characterization of MnPd3 thin film.
Fig. 2: SOT characterization using the SHH technique on Si/SiO2/MnPd3 (x nm)/CoFeB (5 nm)/MgO (2 nm)/Ta (2 nm).
Fig. 3: Demonstration of external magnetic field-free out-of-plane magnetization switching via z spin polarization generated anti-damping SOT.
Fig. 4: Effect of (114) texture on the spin polarization.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.

Code availability

The code used for the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by ASCENT, one of six centres in JUMP, a Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) programme sponsored by DARPA. The authors thank the NSF Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science (E3S) and TSMC for financial support. Part of this work was performed at the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF)/Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF), supported by the National Science Foundation under award ECCS-1542152. The research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was supported by the National Science Foundation through EPSCoR RII Track-1 Program under award OIA-2044049. P.Q. acknowledges support from the National Research Council Research Associateship Program. S.E. and M.B.V. acknowledge funding from NSF award DMR-1905909, and assistance from Randy Dumas at Quantum Design with VSM measurements. A.H. and W.-G.W. acknowledge funding from NSF award DMR-1905783. F.X. acknowledges funding from TSMC under the JDP programme with award number SPO135237. Y.-L.H acknowledges the financial support from Center for Semiconductor Technology Research from the Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by MOE in Taiwan, and the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan, under grants NSTC 110-2634-F-009-027 and NSTC 111-2112-M-A49-012-MY3. M.M. was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (18KK0414 and 20H02184), Heiwa Nakajima Foundation, PMAC for Science Research Promotion Fund and JST-FOREST (JPMJFR202G). Certain commercial equipment and instruments are identified in this paper to foster understanding. Any mention of commercial products is for information only; it does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The authors thank C. H. Diaz, P. Li and J. Jamtgaard for fruitful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Mahendra DC, Masashi Miura, Xiang Li, Yong Deng, Wilman Tsai & Shan X. Wang

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy & Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA

    Ding-Fu Shao & Evgeny Y. Tsymbal

  3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Vincent D.-H. Hou, Yen-Lin Huang, Chien-Min Lee & Shy-Jay Lin

  4. Stanford Nano Shared Facilities, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Arturas Vailionis

  5. Department of Physics, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Arturas Vailionis

  6. NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    P. Quarterman, Brian Kirby & Julie A. Borchers

  7. Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Ali Habiboglu & Wei-Gang Wang

  8. Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    M. B. Venuti & Serena Eley

  9. Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Fen Xue, Chong Bi, Xiang Li & Shan X. Wang

  10. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Yen-Lin Huang

  11. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Seikei University, Tokyo, Japan

    Masashi Miura

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Contributions

M. DC conceived, designed and coordinated the research with contributions from M.M., S.-J.L., W.T. and S.X.W. S.X.W supervised the study. M. DC grew the thin films, performed the X-ray diffraction measurements and fabricated the Hall bars and the ST-FMR device, and carried out ST-FMR, SHH and switching measurements with contributions from Y.D., X.L., C.B., F.X. and Y.-L.H. D.-F.S. and E.Y.T. performed DFT calculations. V.D.-H.H., A.H. and W.-G.W. carried out TEM and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy studies. A.V. performed grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements. M.B.V., S.E. and C.-M.L performed magnetometry measurements. P.Q., B.K. and J.A.B. performed PNR measurements and modelling. Y.-L.H. performed micromagnetic simulations. M. DC performed data analysis and wrote the manuscript with contributions from D.-F.S, P.Q., A.V. and S.X.W. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mahendra DC or Shan X. Wang.

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DC, M., Shao, DF., Hou, V.DH. et al. Observation of anti-damping spin–orbit torques generated by in-plane and out-of-plane spin polarizations in MnPd3. Nat. Mater. 22, 591–598 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01522-3

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