Giant field-like torque by the out-of-plane magnetic spin Hall effect in a topological antiferromagnet
Abstract
Spin-orbit torques (SOT) enable efficient electrical control of the magnetic state of ferromagnets, ferrimagnets and antiferromagnets. However, the conventional SOT has severe limitation that only in-plane spins accumulate near the surface, whether interpreted as a spin Hall effect (SHE) or as an Edelstein effect. Such a SOT is not suitable for controlling perpendicular magnetization, which would be more beneficial for realizing low-power-consumption memory devices. Here we report the observation of a giant magnetic-field-like SOT in a topological antiferromagnet Mn3Sn, whose direction and size can be tuned by changing the order parameter direction of the antiferromagnet. To understand the magnetic SHE (MSHE)- and the conventional SHE-induced SOTs on an equal footing, we formulate them as interface spin-electric-field responses and analyzed using a macroscopic symmetry analysis and a complementary microscopic quantum kinetic theory. In this framework, the large out-of-plane spin accumulation due to the MSHE has an inter-band origin and is likely to be caused by the large momentum-dependent spin splitting in Mn3Sn. Our work demonstrates the unique potential of antiferromagnetic Weyl semimetals in overcoming the limitations of conventional SOTs and in realizing low-power spintronics devices with new functionalities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 18, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1038/s41467-021-26453-y
Entities
People
- Allan H. MacDonald
- Hua Chen
- Kouta Kondou
- Muhammad Ikhlas
- Satoru Nakatsuji
- Takahiro Tomita
- Tomoya Higo
- Yoshichika Otani
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Science