Third harmonic characterization of antiferromagnetic heterostructures

Abstract Electrical switching of antiferromagnets is an exciting recent development in spintronics, which promises active antiferromagnetic devices with high speed and low energy cost. In this emerging field, there is an active debate about the mechanisms of current-driven switching of antiferromagn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2022-06, Vol.13 (1)
Main Authors: Cheng, Yang, Cogulu, Egecan, Resnick, Rachel D., Michel, Justin J., Statuto, Nahuel N., Kent, Andrew D., Yang, Fengyuan
Format: Article
Language:English
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Science & Technology - Other Topics
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Summary:Abstract Electrical switching of antiferromagnets is an exciting recent development in spintronics, which promises active antiferromagnetic devices with high speed and low energy cost. In this emerging field, there is an active debate about the mechanisms of current-driven switching of antiferromagnets. For heavy-metal/ferromagnet systems, harmonic characterization is a powerful tool to quantify current-induced spin-orbit torques and spin Seebeck effect and elucidate current-induced switching. However, harmonic measurement of spin-orbit torques has never been verified in antiferromagnetic heterostructures. Here, we report harmonic measurements in Pt/α-Fe2O3bilayers, which are explained by our modeling of higher-order harmonic voltages. As compared with ferromagnetic heterostructures where all current-induced effects appear in the second harmonic signals, the damping-like torque and thermally-induced magnetoelastic effect contributions in Pt/α-Fe2O3emerge in the third harmonic voltage. Our results provide a new path to probe the current-induced magnetization dynamics in antiferromagnets, promoting the application of antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723