No Arabic abstract
Spin orbit torque has been intensively investigated because of its high energy efficiency in manipulating a magnetization. Although various methods for measuring the spin orbit torque have been developed so far, the measurement results often show inconsistency among the methods, implying that an electromotive force, such as Nernst effect, irrelevant to the spin orbit torque may affect the measurement results as an artifact. In this letter, we developed a unique method to distinguish the spin orbit torque and the anomalous Nernst effect. The measurement results show that the spin orbit torque can be underestimated up to 50% under the influence of the anomalous Nernst effect.
Recently, Seebeck coefficients of ferromagnetic conductors are found to be spin-dependent. However straightforward method of accurately determining its spin polarization is still to be developed. Here, we have derived a linear dependence of anomalous Nernst coefficient on anomalous Hall angle with scaling factor related to spin polarization of Seebeck coefficient, which has been experimentally verified in [Co/Pt]n superlattices. Based on the dependence, we have also evaluated spin polarization of Seebeck coefficient of some ferromagnetic conductors. Besides, we have also found a new mechanism to generate pure spin current from temperature gradient in ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic hybrid system, which could improve efficiency from thermal energy to spin current.
Spin-orbit torques (SOT) allow the electrical control of magnetic states. Current-induced SOT switching of the perpendicular magnetization is of particular technological importance. The SOT consists of damping-like and field-like torques so that the efficient SOT switching requires to understand combined effects of the two torque-components. Previous quasi-static measurements have reported an increased switching probability with the width of current pulses, as predicted with considering the damping-like torque only. Here we report a decreased switching probability at longer pulse-widths, based on time-resolved measurements. Micromagnetic analysis reveals that this anomalous SOT switching results from domain wall reflections at sample edges. The domain wall reflection is found to strongly depend on the field-like torque and its relative sign to the damping-like torque. Our result demonstrates a key role of the field-like torque in the deterministic SOT switching and notifies the importance of sign correlation of the two torque-components, which may shed light on the SOT switching mechanism.
Thermoelectric properties of a model Skyrmion crystal were theoretically investigated, and it was found that its large anomalous Hall conductivity, corresponding to large Chern numbers induced by its peculiar spin structure leads to a large transverse thermoelectric voltage through the anomalous Nernst effect. This implies the possibility of finding good thermoelectric materials among Skyrmion systems, and thus motivates our quests for them by means of the first-principles calculations as were employed here.
We report a giant spin Hall effect (SHE) in {beta}-Ta that generates spin currents intense enough to induce efficient spin-transfer-torque switching of ferromagnets, thereby providing a new approach for controlling magnetic devices that can be superior to existing technologies. We quantify this SHE by three independent methods and demonstrate spin-torque (ST) switching of both out-of-plane and in-plane magnetized layers. We implement a three-terminal device that utilizes current passing through a low impedance Ta-ferromagnet bilayer to effect switching of a nanomagnet, with a higher-impedance magnetic tunnel junction for read-out. The efficiency and reliability of this device, together with its simplicity of fabrication, suggest that this three-terminal SHE-ST design can eliminate the main obstacles currently impeding the development of magnetic memory and non-volatile spin logic technologies.
We identify and investigate thermal spin transport phenomena in sputter-deposited Pt/NiFe$_2$O$_{textrm{4-x}}$ ($4geq x geq 0$) bilayers. We separate the voltage generated by the spin Seebeck effect from the anomalous Nernst effect contributions and even disentangle the intrinsic anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) in the ferromagnet (FM) from the ANE produced by the Pt that is spin polarized due to its proximity to the FM. Further, we probe the dependence of these effects on the electrical conductivity and the band gap energy of the FM film varying from nearly insulating NiFe$_2$O$_4$ to metallic Ni$_{33}$Fe$_{67}$. A proximity-induced ANE could only be identified in the metallic Pt/Ni$_{33}$Fe$_{67}$ bilayer in contrast to Pt/NiFe$_2$O$_{rm x}$ ($x>0$) samples. This is verified by the investigation of static magnetic proximity effects via x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity.