journal article·2018-09Open access

Room-temperature high spin–orbit torque due to quantum confinement in sputtered BixSe(1–x) films

Mahendra DC, Roberto Grassi, Jun-Yang Chen, Mahdi Jamali, Danielle Reifsnyder Hickey, Delin Zhang, Zhengyang Zhao, Hongshi Li, P. Quarterman, Yang Lv, Mo Li, Aurelien Manchon, K. Andre Mkhoyan, Tony Low, Jian-Ping Wang

Nature Materials· Volume 17· Issue 9

Abstract

The spin-orbit torque (SOT) that arises from materials with large spin-orbit coupling promises a path for ultralow power and fast magnetic-based storage and computational devices. We investigated the SOT from magnetron-sputtered BixSe(1-x) thin films in BixSe(1-x)/Co20Fe60B20 heterostructures by using d.c. planar Hall and spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) methods. Remarkably, the spin torque efficiency (θS) was determined to be as large as 18.62 ± 0.13 and 8.67 ± 1.08 using the d.c. planar Hall and ST-FMR methods, respectively. Moreover, switching of the perpendicular CoFeB multilayers using the SOT from the BixSe(1-x) was observed at room temperature with a low critical magnetization switching current density of 4.3 × 105 A cm-2. Quantum transport simulations using a realistic sp3 tight-binding model suggests that the high SOT in sputtered BixSe(1-x) is due to the quantum confinement effect with a charge-to-spin conversion efficiency that enhances with reduced size and dimensionality. The demonstrated θS, ease of growth of the films on a silicon substrate and successful growth and switching of perpendicular CoFeB multilayers on BixSe(1-x) films provide an avenue for the use of BixSe(1-x) as a spin density generator in SOT-based memory and logic devices.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Magnetic properties of thin films · Topological Materials and Phenomena · Advanced Condensed Matter Physics

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