Understanding the electrical manipulation of antiferromagnetic order is a crucial aspect to enable the design of antiferromagnetic devices working at THz frequency. Focusing on collinear insulating antiferromagnetic NiO/Pt thin films as a materials platform, we identify the crystallographic orientation of the domains that can be switched by currents and quantify the Neel vector direction changes. We demonstrate electrical switching between different T-domains by current pulses, finding that the Neel vector orientation in these domains is along $[pm5 pm5 19]$, different compared to the bulk $<11bar{2}>$ directions. The final state of the Neel vector $textbf{n}$ switching after current pulses $textbf{j}$ along the $[1 pm1 0]$ directions is $textbf{n}parallel textbf{j}$. By comparing the observed Neel vector orientation and the strain in the thin films, assuming that this variation arises solely from magnetoelastic effects, we quantify the order of magnitude of the magnetoelastic coupling coefficient as $b_{0}+2b_{1}=3*10^7 J m^{-3}$ . This information is key for the understanding of current-induced switching in antiferromagnets and for the design and use of such devices as active elements in spintronic devices.
Download