No Arabic abstract
Synchronization and chaos caused by alternating current and microwave field in a spin torque oscillator consisting of a perpendicularly magnetized free layer and an in-plane magnetized reference layer is comprehensively studied theoretically. A forced synchronization by the alternating current is observed in numerical simulation over wide ranges of its amplitude and frequency. An analytical theory clarifies that the nonlinear frequency shift, as well as the spin-transfer torque asymmetry, plays a key role in determining locking range and phase difference between the oscillator and current. Chaos caused by the alternating current is identified for a region of large alternating current by evaluating the Lyapunov exponent. Similar results are also obtained for microwave field, although the parameter regions causing chaos are narrower than those by the alternating current.
The oscillation properties of a spin torque oscillator consisting of a perpendicularly magnetized free layer and an in-plane magnetized pinned layer are studied based on an analysis of the energy balance between spin torque and damping. The critical value of an external magnetic field applied normal to the film plane is found, below which the controllable range of the oscillation frequency by the current is suppressed. The value of the critical field depends on the magnetic anisotropy, the saturation magnetization, and the spin torque parameter.
A mutual synchronization of spin-torque oscillators coupled through current injection is studied theoretically. Models of electrical coupling in parallel and series circuits are proposed. Solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, excitation of in-phase or antiphase synchronization, depending on the ways the oscillators are connected, is found. It is also found from both analytical and numerical calculations that the current-frequency relations for both parallel and series circuits are the same as that for a single spin-torque oscillator.
A theoretical study of delayed feedback in spin-torque nano-oscillators is presented. A macrospin geometry is considered, where self-sustained oscillations are made possible by spin transfer torques associated with spin currents flowing perpendicular to the film plane. By tuning the delay and amplification of the self-injected signal, we identify dynamical regimes in this system such as chaos, switching between precession modes with complex transients, and oscillator death. Such delayed feedback schemes open up a new field of exploration for such oscillators, where the complex transient states might find important applications in information processing.
We show that Py, a commonly-used soft ferromagnetic material with weak anisotropy, can become perpendicularly-magnetized while depositing on Ta buffer layer with Hf or Zr insertion layers (ILs) and MgO capping layer. By using two different approaches, namely harmonic voltage measurement and hysteresis loop shift measurement, the dampinglike spin-orbit torque (DL-SOT) efficiencies from Ta/IL/Py/IL/MgO magnetic heterostructures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy are characterized. We find that though Ta has a significant spin Hall effect, the DL-SOT efficiencies are small in systems with the Ta/Py interface compared to that obtained from the control sample with the traditional Ta/CoFeB interface. Our results indicate that the spin transparency for the Ta/Py interface is much less than that for the Ta/CoFeB interface, which might be related to the variation of spin mixing conductance for different interfaces.
Current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) are of interest for fast and energy-efficient manipulation of magnetic order in spintronic devices. To be deterministic, however, switching of perpendicularly magnetized materials by SOT requires a mechanism for in-plane symmetry breaking. Existing methods to do so involve the application of an in-plane bias magnetic field, or incorporation of in-plane structural asymmetry in the device, both of which can be difficult to implement in practical applications. Here, we reported bias-field-free SOT switching in a single perpendicular CoTb layer with an engineered vertical composition gradient. The vertical structural inversion asymmetry induces strong intrinsic SOTs and a gradient-driven Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (g-DMI), which breaks the in-plane symmetry during the switching process. Micromagnetic simulations are in agreement with experimental results, and elucidate the role of g-DMI in the deterministic switching. This bias-field-free switching scheme for perpendicular ferrimagnets with g-DMI provides a strategy for efficient and compact SOT device design.