Field-free magnetization switching induced by the unconventional spin-orbit torque from WTe₂

Xie, Qidong, Lin, Weinan, Sarkar, S., Shu, X., Chen, Shaohai, Liu, L., Zhao, Tieyang, Zhou, Chenghang, Wang, H., Zhou, J., Gradečak, S. and Chen, Jingsheng (2021) Field-free magnetization switching induced by the unconventional spin-orbit torque from WTe₂. APL Materials, 9 (5), [051114]. (doi:10.1063/5.0048926).

Abstract

Spin–orbit torque provides a highly efficient way to achieve current-induced magnetization switching, which relies on charge-to-spin conversion of the spin source layer. However, in the conventional heavy metal/ferromagnetic layer, the generated spin–orbit torque is limited to in-plane, which cannot deterministically switch the perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnets, and thus impedes practical application for high-density magnetic memory. In this work, deterministic switching of perpendicular magnetization is achieved in the SrRuO₃/WTe₂ bilayer structure, which is attributed to the out-of-plane spin polarization originated from the van der Waals material WTe₂. The out-of-plane spin polarization is further confirmed by the shift of the anomalous Hall effect loop. Spin polarization matrix analysis indicates that the reduced crystal symmetry in WTe₂ is responsible for the out-of-plane spin polarization.

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Contributors

Author: S. Sarkar

Author: H. Wang

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