Layer thickness dependence of the current-induced effective field vector in Ta|CoFeB|MgO
Top Cited Papers
- 23 December 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature Materials
- Vol. 12 (3), 240-245
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3522
Abstract
Current-induced effective magnetic fields can provide efficient ways of electrically manipulating the magnetization of ultrathin magnetic heterostructures. Two effects, known as the Rashba spin orbit field and the spin Hall spin torque, have been reported to be responsible for the generation of the effective field. However, a quantitative understanding of the effective field, including its direction with respect to the current flow, is lacking. Here we describe vector measurements of the current-induced effective field in Ta|CoFeB|MgO heterostructrures. The effective field exhibits a significant dependence on the Ta and CoFeB layer thicknesses. In particular, a 1 nm thickness variation of the Ta layer can change the magnitude of the effective field by nearly two orders of magnitude. Moreover, its sign changes when the Ta layer thickness is reduced, indicating that there are two competing effects contributing to it. Our results illustrate that the presence of atomically thin metals can profoundly change the landscape for controlling magnetic moments in magnetic heterostructures electrically.Keywords
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- Spin-Torque Switching with the Giant Spin Hall Effect of TantalumScience, 2012
- Spin Hall effect devicesNature Materials, 2012
- Current-induced torques in magnetic materialsNature Materials, 2012
- A perpendicular-anisotropy CoFeB–MgO magnetic tunnel junctionNature Materials, 2010
- Current-driven spin torque induced by the Rashba effect in a ferromagnetic metal layerNature Materials, 2010
- Current-induced domain wall motion in Rashba spin-orbit systemPhysical Review B, 2008
- First-principles study of spin-transfer torques in layered systems with noncollinear magnetizationPhysical Review B, 2008
- Spin-Torque Influence on the High-Frequency Magnetization Fluctuations in Magnetic Tunnel JunctionsPhysical Review Letters, 2007
- Spin transfer in bilayer magnetic nanopillars at high fields as a function of free-layer thicknessPhysical Review B, 2006
- Mechanisms of Spin-Polarized Current-Driven Magnetization SwitchingPhysical Review Letters, 2002