Perovskite oxide heterojunction for Rashba-Dresselhaus assisted antiferromagnetic spintronics

A major impediment towards realizing technologies based on the emerging principles of antiferromagnetic spintronics is the shortage of suitable materials. In this paper, we propose a design of polar | nonpolar heterostructures of perovskite oxides, where a single unit cell of SrIrO3 is sandwiched be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B 2020-12, Vol.102 (21), p.1, Article 214425
Main Authors: Chakraborty, Jayita, Ganguli, Nirmal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antiferromagnetism
Density functional theory
Heterojunctions
Heterostructures
Perovskites
Spin-orbit interactions
Spintronics
Strontium titanates
Substrates
Thin films
Unit cell
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Summary:A major impediment towards realizing technologies based on the emerging principles of antiferromagnetic spintronics is the shortage of suitable materials. In this paper, we propose a design of polar | nonpolar heterostructures of perovskite oxides, where a single unit cell of SrIrO3 is sandwiched between a thin film of LaAlO3 and a substrate of SrTiO3. Our calculations within the framework of density-functional theory + Hubbard U + spin-orbit coupling reveal a two-dimensional conducting layer with electron and hole pockets at the interface, exhibiting a strong anisotropic Rashba-Dresselhaus effect along with noncollinear antiferromagnetism, indicating the possibility of realizing a spin-orbit torque. An insightful physical model for the anisotropic Rashba-Dresselhaus effect nicely interprets our results, providing an estimate for the Rashba-Dresselhaus coefficients and illustrating pseudospin orientation. We also observe a proximity-induced prominent Rashba-like effect for Ti 3 d empty bands. Our results suggest that the heterostructure may possess the essential ingredients for antiferromagnetic spintronics, deserving experimental verification.
ISSN:2469-9950
2469-9969
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.102.214425