Symmetry-breaking interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions in synthetic antiferromagnets

Amalio Fernández-Pacheco; Elena Vedmedenko; Fanny Ummelen; Rhodri Mansell; Dorothée Petit; Russell P. Cowburn

doi:10.1038/s41563-019-0386-4

Symmetry-breaking interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions in synthetic antiferromagnets

Amalio Fernández-Pacheco (Corresponding author)
, Elena Vedmedenko
, Fanny Ummelen
, Rhodri Mansell
, Dorothée Petit
, Russell P. Cowburn

Physics of Nanostructures

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Academic › peer-review

156 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The magnetic interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in multilayered thin films can lead to chiral spin states, which are of paramount importance for future spintronic technologies^1,2. Interfacial DMI typically manifests as an intralayer interaction, mediated via a paramagnetic heavy metal in systems lacking inversion symmetry³. Here we show that, by designing synthetic antiferromagnets with canted magnetization states^4,5, it is also possible to observe direct evidence of the interfacial interlayer DMI at room temperature. The interlayer DMI breaks the symmetry of the magnetic reversal process via the emergence of non-collinear spin states, which results in chiral exchange-biased hysteresis loops. The spin chiral interlayer interactions reported here are expected to manifest in a range of multilayered thin-film systems, opening up as yet unexplored avenues for the development and exploitation of chiral effects in magnetic heterostructures^6–8.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	679-684
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Materials
Volume	18
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0386-4
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2019

Funding

The authors acknowledge discussions with N. Jaouen, S. Stanescu and A. Hierro-Rodríguez, as well as experimental support from D. Sanz Hernández, A. Welbourne, P. Seem and I. Farrer. A.F.-P. acknowledges funding from an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship EP/M008517/1 and from the Winton Program for the Physics of Sustainability. E.V. acknowledges support from the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 665095 (MAGicSky), and D.P. and R.P.C. acknowledge from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. F.U. acknowledges support from the Erasmus Mobility programme.

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title = "Symmetry-breaking interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions in synthetic antiferromagnets",

abstract = "The magnetic interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in multilayered thin films can lead to chiral spin states, which are of paramount importance for future spintronic technologies1,2. Interfacial DMI typically manifests as an intralayer interaction, mediated via a paramagnetic heavy metal in systems lacking inversion symmetry3. Here we show that, by designing synthetic antiferromagnets with canted magnetization states4,5, it is also possible to observe direct evidence of the interfacial interlayer DMI at room temperature. The interlayer DMI breaks the symmetry of the magnetic reversal process via the emergence of non-collinear spin states, which results in chiral exchange-biased hysteresis loops. The spin chiral interlayer interactions reported here are expected to manifest in a range of multilayered thin-film systems, opening up as yet unexplored avenues for the development and exploitation of chiral effects in magnetic heterostructures6–8.",

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AU - Fernández-Pacheco, Amalio

AU - Vedmedenko, Elena

AU - Ummelen, Fanny

AU - Mansell, Rhodri

AU - Petit, Dorothée

AU - Cowburn, Russell P.

PY - 2019/7/1

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N2 - The magnetic interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in multilayered thin films can lead to chiral spin states, which are of paramount importance for future spintronic technologies1,2. Interfacial DMI typically manifests as an intralayer interaction, mediated via a paramagnetic heavy metal in systems lacking inversion symmetry3. Here we show that, by designing synthetic antiferromagnets with canted magnetization states4,5, it is also possible to observe direct evidence of the interfacial interlayer DMI at room temperature. The interlayer DMI breaks the symmetry of the magnetic reversal process via the emergence of non-collinear spin states, which results in chiral exchange-biased hysteresis loops. The spin chiral interlayer interactions reported here are expected to manifest in a range of multilayered thin-film systems, opening up as yet unexplored avenues for the development and exploitation of chiral effects in magnetic heterostructures6–8.

AB - The magnetic interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in multilayered thin films can lead to chiral spin states, which are of paramount importance for future spintronic technologies1,2. Interfacial DMI typically manifests as an intralayer interaction, mediated via a paramagnetic heavy metal in systems lacking inversion symmetry3. Here we show that, by designing synthetic antiferromagnets with canted magnetization states4,5, it is also possible to observe direct evidence of the interfacial interlayer DMI at room temperature. The interlayer DMI breaks the symmetry of the magnetic reversal process via the emergence of non-collinear spin states, which results in chiral exchange-biased hysteresis loops. The spin chiral interlayer interactions reported here are expected to manifest in a range of multilayered thin-film systems, opening up as yet unexplored avenues for the development and exploitation of chiral effects in magnetic heterostructures6–8.

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Symmetry-breaking interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions in synthetic antiferromagnets

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