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Magnetism modulation in Co3Sn2S2 by current-assisted domain wall motion

Nature Electronics volume 6, pages 119–125 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The efficiency of spintronic devices can be improved by generating higher effective magnetic fields with lower working currents. Spin-transfer torques can drive magnetic domain wall motion in a device composed of a single material, but a high threshold current density is typically required to move the domain wall and improving the effective magnetic field in common itinerant ferromagnets is difficult. Here we report magnetism modulation in Co3Sn2S2—a magnetic Weyl semimetal—via spin-transfer-torque-driven domain wall motion. We examine the effect of d.c. current on magnetic reversal using anomalous Hall resistance measurements and domain wall motion using time-of-flight measurements. At 160 K, the threshold current density for driving domain wall motion is less than 5.1 × 105 A cm−2 at zero external field and less than 1.5 × 105 A cm−2 at a moderate external field (0.2 kOe). The spin-transfer-torque effective field can reach as high as 2.4–5.6 kOe MA−1 cm2 at 150 K.

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Fig. 1: Current modulation of the reversal process.
Fig. 2: Current-assisted DW motion model.
Fig. 3: DW velocity measurement.
Fig. 4: Derived STT efficiency.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Liu and Y. Zhu for valuable discussions, X. Cheng for reflective magnetic circular dichroism measurements and J. Zhang for magnetic force microscopy measurements. This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant nos. 2017YFA0206301 (Y.H.), 2018YFA0306900 (Y.Y.) and 2022YFA1403400 (E.L.)), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 52088101 (E.L.), 11974394 (E.L.), 51631001 (Y.H.) and 51672010 (Y.H.)), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (grant no. JQ21018 (Y.Y.)), the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB33000000 (E.L.)), JST CREST (grant no. JPMJCR18T2 (K.N.)) and JSPS KAKENHI (grant no. JP20H01830 (K.N.)).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Qiuyuan Wang, Yi Zeng.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Centre for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Qiuyuan Wang, Yi Zeng, Kai Yuan, Pingfan Gu, Xiaolong Xu & Yu Ye

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetoelectric Materials and Devices, Beijing Innovation Centre for Engineering Science and Advanced Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Yi Zeng & Yanglong Hou

  3. Collaborative Innovation Centre of Quantum Matter, Beijing, China

    Kai Yuan & Yu Ye

  4. Beijing National Centre for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Qingqi Zeng, Wenhong Wang & Enke Liu

  5. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China

    Hanwen Wang

  6. State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Opto-Electronics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China

    Zheng Han

  7. Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China

    Zheng Han

  8. Institute for Materials Research and Centre for Spintronics Research Network, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Kentaro Nomura

  9. Department of Physics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Kentaro Nomura

  10. Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, China

    Wenhong Wang & Enke Liu

  11. Peking University Yangtze Delta Institute of Optoelectronics, Nantong, China

    Yu Ye

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Contributions

Q.W. and Y.Y. conceived the project. Y.Z. grew the Co3Sn2S2 nanoflakes and fabricated the devices assisted by K.Y. Q.Z. and E.L. provided the precursor Co3Sn2S2 powders and helpful discussion for preparing the nanoflake samples. Q.W. conducted the transport measurements assisted by Y.Z., K.Y. and P.G. Q.W. analysed the data. X.X. performed the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements. E.L. and K.N. provided scientific discussions. Q.W. and Y.Y. wrote the manuscript, with input from all the authors. Y.H. and Y.Y. supervised the project. All the authors discussed the results, interpretation and conclusion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Enke Liu, Yanglong Hou or Yu Ye.

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Competing interests

The authors have applied for a Chinese patent (no. 202111248060.1) for using current injection to modulate magnetism in magnetic semimetal thin films, which is now under consideration.

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Nature Electronics thanks Yukako Fujishiro and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Wang, Q., Zeng, Y., Yuan, K. et al. Magnetism modulation in Co3Sn2S2 by current-assisted domain wall motion. Nat Electron 6, 119–125 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00879-8

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