Kramers Weyl semimetals as quantum solenoids and their applications in spin-orbit torque devices

Kramers Weyl semimetals are Weyl semimetals that have Weyl points pinned at the time reversal invariant momenta. Recently it has been discovered that all chiral crystals host Weyl points at time reversal invariant momenta, so metals with chiral lattice symmetry all belong to the category of Kramers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications physics 2021-03, Vol.4 (1), p.1-8, Article 66
Main Authors: He, Wen-Yu, Xu, Xiao Yan, Law, K. T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/766/119/2792/4128
639/766/119/997
Crystal structure
Crystals
Electric control
Electron spin
Ferromagnetism
Invariants
Magnetic anisotropy
Magnetic switching
Magnetization
Magnets
Metalloids
Physical properties
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Solenoids
Symmetry
Torque
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Summary:Kramers Weyl semimetals are Weyl semimetals that have Weyl points pinned at the time reversal invariant momenta. Recently it has been discovered that all chiral crystals host Weyl points at time reversal invariant momenta, so metals with chiral lattice symmetry all belong to the category of Kramers Weyl semimetals. In this work, we show that due to the chiral lattice symmetry, Kramers Weyl semimetals have the unique longitudinal magnetoelectric effect in which the charge current induced spin and orbital magnetization is parallel to the direction of the current. This feature allows Kramers Weyl semimetals to act as nanoscale quantum solenoids with both orbital and spin magnetization. As the moving electrons of Kramers Weyl semimetal can generate longitudinal magnetization, Kramers Weyl semimetals can be used for new designs of spin-orbit torque devices with all electric control of magnetization switching for magnets with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. A Kramers Weyl semimetal has a chiral crystal structure and is thought to exhibit unique physical properties due to the chiral lattice symmetry. Here, the authors theoretically demonstrate that this class of material can exhibit a strong longitudinal magnetoelectric response that could be used for magnetic switching in a ferromagnetic system.
ISSN:2399-3650
2399-3650
DOI:10.1038/s42005-021-00564-w