Enhanced Spin-Orbit Torque via Modulation of Spin Current Absorption

The magnitude of spin-orbit torque (SOT), exerted to a ferromagnet (FM) from an adjacent heavy metal (HM), strongly depends on the amount of spin current absorbed in the FM. We exploit the large spin absorption at the Ru interface to manipulate the SOTs in HM/FM/Ru multilayers. While the FM thicknes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2016-11, Vol.117 (21), p.217206-217206, Article 217206
Main Authors: Qiu, Xuepeng, Legrand, William, He, Pan, Wu, Yang, Yu, Jiawei, Ramaswamy, Rajagopalan, Manchon, Aurelien, Yang, Hyunsoo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Efficiency
Electric current
Ferromagnetism
Modulation
Multilayers
Spintronics
Torque
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The magnitude of spin-orbit torque (SOT), exerted to a ferromagnet (FM) from an adjacent heavy metal (HM), strongly depends on the amount of spin current absorbed in the FM. We exploit the large spin absorption at the Ru interface to manipulate the SOTs in HM/FM/Ru multilayers. While the FM thickness is smaller than its spin dephasing length of 1.2 nm, the top Ru layer largely boosts the absorption of spin currents into the FM layer and substantially enhances the strength of SOT acting on the FM. Spin-pumping experiments induced by ferromagnetic resonance support our conclusions that the observed increase in the SOT efficiency can be attributed to an enhancement of the spin-current absorption. A theoretical model that considers both reflected and transmitted mixing conductances at the two interfaces of FM is developed to explain the results.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.117.217206