Fast switching and signature of efficient domain wall motion driven by spin-orbit torques in a perpendicular anisotropy magnetic insulator/Pt bilayer
Abstract
We report fast and efficient current-induced switching of a perpendicular anisotropy magnetic insulator thulium iron garnet by using spin-orbit torques (SOT) from the Pt overlayer. We first show that, with quasi-DC (10 ms) current pulses, SOT-induced switching can be achieved with an external field as low as 2 Oe, making TmIG an outstanding candidate to realize efficient switching in heterostructures that produce moderate stray fields without requiring an external field. We then demonstrate deterministic switching with fast current pulses (≤20 ns) with an amplitude of ∼1012 A/m2, similar to all-metallic structures. We reveal that, in the presence of an initially nucleated domain, the critical switching current is reduced by up to a factor of five with respect to the fully saturated initial state, implying efficient current-driven domain wall motion in this system. Based on measurements with 2 ns-long pulses, we estimate the domain wall velocity of the order of ∼400 m/s per j = 1012 A/m2.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Aug 14, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4994050
Entities
People
- Andy Quindeau
- Can Onur Avcı
- Caroline Anne Ross
- Ethan Rosenberg
- Geoffrey S. D. Beach
- Lukáš Beran
- Manuel Baumgartner
- Pietro Gambardella
Organizations
- Charles University
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- ETH Zurich
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Stanford University
- Swiss National Science Foundation