Abstract
The exchange interaction governs static and dynamic magnetism. This fundamental interaction comes in two flavours-symmetric and antisymmetric. The symmetric interaction leads to ferro- and antiferromagnetism, and the antisymmetric interaction has attracted significant interest owing to its major role in promoting topologically non-trivial spin textures that promise fast, energy-efficient devices. So far, the antisymmetric exchange interaction has been found to be rather short ranged and limited to a single magnetic layer. Here we report a long-range antisymmetric interlayer exchange interaction in perpendicularly magnetized synthetic antiferromagnets with parallel and antiparallel magnetization alignments. Asymmetric hysteresis loops under an in-plane field reveal a unidirectional and chiral nature of this interaction, which results in canted magnetic structures. We explain our results by considering spin-orbit coupling combined with reduced symmetry in multilayers. Our discovery of a long-range chiral interaction provides an additional handle to engineer magnetic structures and could enable three-dimensional topological structures.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 703-708 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Nature Materials |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2019 |
Fingerprint
Cite this
}
Long-range chiral exchange interaction in synthetic antiferromagnets. / Han, Dong-Soo; Lee, Kyujoon; Hanke, Jan-Philipp; Mokrousov, Yuriy; Kim, Kyoung-Whan; Yoo, Woosuk; van Hees, Youri L.W.; Kim, Tae-Wan; Lavrijsen, Reinoud; You, Chun-Yeol; Swagten, Henk J.M.; Jung, Myung-Hwa (Corresponding author); Kläui, Mathias (Corresponding author).
In: Nature Materials, Vol. 18, No. 7, 01.07.2019, p. 703-708.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-range chiral exchange interaction in synthetic antiferromagnets
AU - Han, Dong-Soo
AU - Lee, Kyujoon
AU - Hanke, Jan-Philipp
AU - Mokrousov, Yuriy
AU - Kim, Kyoung-Whan
AU - Yoo, Woosuk
AU - van Hees, Youri L.W.
AU - Kim, Tae-Wan
AU - Lavrijsen, Reinoud
AU - You, Chun-Yeol
AU - Swagten, Henk J.M.
AU - Jung, Myung-Hwa
AU - Kläui, Mathias
PY - 2019/7/1
Y1 - 2019/7/1
N2 - The exchange interaction governs static and dynamic magnetism. This fundamental interaction comes in two flavours-symmetric and antisymmetric. The symmetric interaction leads to ferro- and antiferromagnetism, and the antisymmetric interaction has attracted significant interest owing to its major role in promoting topologically non-trivial spin textures that promise fast, energy-efficient devices. So far, the antisymmetric exchange interaction has been found to be rather short ranged and limited to a single magnetic layer. Here we report a long-range antisymmetric interlayer exchange interaction in perpendicularly magnetized synthetic antiferromagnets with parallel and antiparallel magnetization alignments. Asymmetric hysteresis loops under an in-plane field reveal a unidirectional and chiral nature of this interaction, which results in canted magnetic structures. We explain our results by considering spin-orbit coupling combined with reduced symmetry in multilayers. Our discovery of a long-range chiral interaction provides an additional handle to engineer magnetic structures and could enable three-dimensional topological structures.
AB - The exchange interaction governs static and dynamic magnetism. This fundamental interaction comes in two flavours-symmetric and antisymmetric. The symmetric interaction leads to ferro- and antiferromagnetism, and the antisymmetric interaction has attracted significant interest owing to its major role in promoting topologically non-trivial spin textures that promise fast, energy-efficient devices. So far, the antisymmetric exchange interaction has been found to be rather short ranged and limited to a single magnetic layer. Here we report a long-range antisymmetric interlayer exchange interaction in perpendicularly magnetized synthetic antiferromagnets with parallel and antiparallel magnetization alignments. Asymmetric hysteresis loops under an in-plane field reveal a unidirectional and chiral nature of this interaction, which results in canted magnetic structures. We explain our results by considering spin-orbit coupling combined with reduced symmetry in multilayers. Our discovery of a long-range chiral interaction provides an additional handle to engineer magnetic structures and could enable three-dimensional topological structures.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067079156&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41563-019-0370-z
DO - 10.1038/s41563-019-0370-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 31160801
VL - 18
SP - 703
EP - 708
JO - Nature Materials
JF - Nature Materials
SN - 1476-1122
IS - 7
ER -