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Handedness anomaly in a non-collinear antiferromagnet under spin–orbit torque

Nature Materials volume 22, pages 1106–1113 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Non-collinear antiferromagnets are an emerging family of spintronic materials because they not only possess the general advantages of antiferromagnets but also enable more advanced functionalities. Recently, in an intriguing non-collinear antiferromagnet Mn3Sn, where the octupole moment is defined as the collective magnetic order parameter, spin–orbit torque (SOT) switching has been achieved in seemingly the same protocol as in ferromagnets. Nevertheless, it is fundamentally important to explore the unknown octupole moment dynamics and contrast it with the magnetization vector of ferromagnets. Here we report a handedness anomaly in the SOT-driven dynamics of Mn3Sn: when spin current is injected, the octupole moment rotates in the opposite direction to the individual moments, leading to a SOT switching polarity distinct from ferromagnets. By using second-harmonic and d.c. magnetometry, we track the SOT effect onto the octupole moment during its rotation and reveal that the handedness anomaly stems from the interactions between the injected spin and the unique chiral-spin structure of Mn3Sn. We further establish the torque balancing equation of the magnetic octupole moment and quantify the SOT efficiency. Our finding provides a guideline for understanding and implementing the electrical manipulation of non-collinear antiferromagnets, which in nature differs from the well-established collinear magnets.

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Fig. 1: Structural and transport properties in W(2 nm)/Ta(3 nm)/Mn3Sn(8.8 nm)/Pt(5 nm) stacks deposited on MgO(110) substrate.
Fig. 2: Measurement configurations and SOT switching.
Fig. 3: Harmonic Hall measurements and magnetic energy landscape.
Fig. 4: d.c. measurement and SOT switching mechanism of non-collinear antiferromagnetic order.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.

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The calculation and simulation codes are available from the corresponding authors.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Ieda, B. Jinnai, J. Llandro, Y. Yamane, K. Kishi and Y. Sato for their technical support and fruitful discussions. Reciprocal space mapping was performed at the Fundamental Technology Center of RIEC in Tohoku University with technical support from T. Tanno. This work was supported by the JSPS Kakenhi (grant nos. 19H05622, 21J23061, 22F32037 and 22K14558), Iketani Science and Technology Foundation (grant no. 0331108-A), Casio Science and Technology Foundation (grant nos. 39-11 and 40-4), Research Institute of Electrical Communication Cooperative Research Projects, National Science Foundation under award no. DMR-2104912 and Semiconductor Research Corporation. J.-Y.Y. and T.U. acknowledge support from GP-Spin at Tohoku University. P.Z. acknowledges support from the Mathworks Fellowship. J.H. acknowledges support from the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Ju-Young Yoon, Pengxiang Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Ju-Young Yoon, Tomohiro Uchimura, Jiahao Han, Shun Kanai, Hideo Ohno & Shunsuke Fukami

  2. Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Ju-Young Yoon, Tomohiro Uchimura, Shun Kanai, Hideo Ohno & Shunsuke Fukami

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Ju-Young Yoon, Pengxiang Zhang, Chung-Tao Chou, Justin T. Hou & Luqiao Liu

  4. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Chung-Tao Chou

  5. WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Yutaro Takeuchi, Shun Kanai, Hideo Ohno & Shunsuke Fukami

  6. Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Shun Kanai, Hideo Ohno & Shunsuke Fukami

  7. Division for the Establishment of Frontier Sciences of Organization for Advanced Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Shun Kanai

  8. Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Hideo Ohno & Shunsuke Fukami

  9. Inamori Research Institute for Science, Kyoto, Japan

    Shunsuke Fukami

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Contributions

J.-Y.Y., P.Z., J.H., H.O., S.F. and L.L. planned the study. J.-Y.Y., Y.T. and T.U. prepared the samples with guidance from S.F. J.-Y.Y., P.Z., C.-T.C. and J.T.H. fabricated the films into Hall bar devices and set the samples for transport measurements. J.-Y.Y. and P.Z. performed transport measurements and analysed the data with advice from Y.T., J.H., S.F. and L.L. J.-Y.Y. and C.-T.C. performed the X-ray diffraction and analysed the structural properties of Mn3Sn. P.Z. performed the theoretical calculation with input from J.-Y.Y. and L.L. J.H. and L.L. conceptualized the findings with input from S.F. All authors discussed the results. J.-Y.Y., P.Z., J.H. and L.L. wrote the manuscript with input from S.F. L.L. supervised the research.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jiahao Han, Shunsuke Fukami or Luqiao Liu.

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Yoon, JY., Zhang, P., Chou, CT. et al. Handedness anomaly in a non-collinear antiferromagnet under spin–orbit torque. Nat. Mater. 22, 1106–1113 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01620-2

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