How to optimise an interface in spin-orbitronics? (Vol. 50, No. 1)
Spintronics is a rapidly developing field of applied physics seeking to exploit electron spins as a further degree of freedom, which is extremely appealing to numerous applications related to magnetic information processing and data storage. Creation of energy saving spintronic devices based on spin currents operated without magnetic fields is currently a key challenge in this domain. This fundamental problem can be resolved by making use of the effects related to Spin-Orbit Coupling (SOC), the approach adopted in a novel direction referred to as spin-orbitronics.
Such effects are typically of interfacial nature that take place in ferromagnetic metal/heavy metal bilayers, Pt being the most promising heavy metal candidate. In this paper the authors have investigated major tendencies in the behaviour of three of them, the Gilbert damping α, the magnetic anisotropy and the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction Ds, as a function of Pt concentration in Py (5 nm)/Cu1−xPtx bilayers. Although they demonstrate correlated general features as Pt is replaced by Cu, confirming their common physical nature, their behaviour is not identical. This opens up the possibility of creation of optimised interfaces with SOC-related parameters tuned independently for a specific application.
H. Bouloussa, R. Ramaswamy, Y. Roussigné, A. Stashkevich, H. Yang,
M. Belmeguenai and S. M. Chérif, Pt concentration dependence of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, the Gilbert damping parameter and the magnetic anisotropy in Py/Cu1-xPtx systems, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 52, 055001 (2019)
[Abstract]
