Effect of rare earth metal on the spin-orbit torque in magnetic heterostructures

被引：60

作者：

Ueda, Kohei ^{[1
]}

Pai, Chi-Feng ^{[1
]}

Tan, Aik Jun ^{[1
]}

Mann, Maxwell ^{[1
]}

Beach, Geoffrey S. D. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] MIT, Dept Mat Sci & Engn, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

来源：

APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS | 2016年 / 108卷 / 23期

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

DOMAIN-WALL; MAGNITUDE;

D O I：

10.1063/1.4953348

中图分类号：

O59 [应用物理学];

学科分类号：

摘要：

We report the effect of the rare earth metal Gd on current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in perpendicularly magnetized Pt/Co/Gd heterostructures, characterized using harmonic measurements and spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR). By varying the Gd metal layer thickness from 0 nm to 8 nm, harmonic measurements reveal a significant enhancement of the effective fields generated from the Slonczewski-like and field-like torques. ST-FMR measurements confirm an enhanced effective spin Hall angle and show a corresponding increase in the magnetic damping constant with increasing Gd thickness. These results suggest that Gd plays an active role in generating SOTs in these heterostructures. Our finding may lead to spin-orbitronics device application such as non-volatile magnetic random access memory, based on rare earth metals. Published by AIP Publishing.

引用

页数：5

共 40 条

[1] Effect of the oxide layer on current-induced spin-orbit torques in Hf|CoFeB|MgO and Hf|CoFeB|TaOx structures [J].