Electrical detection of magnetization reversal without auxiliary magnets

Abstract

First-generation magnetic random access memories based on anisotropic magnetoresistance required magnetic fields for both writing and reading. Modern all-electrical read/write memories use instead non-relativistic spin-transport connecting the storing magnetic layer with a reference ferromagnet. Recent studies have focused on electrical manipulation of magnetic moments by relativistic spin-torques requiring no reference ferromagnet. Here we report the observation of a counterpart magnetoresistance effect in such a relativistic system which allows us to electrically detect the sign of the magnetization without an auxiliary magnetic field or ferromagnet. We observe the effect in a geometry in which the magnetization of a uniaxial (Ga,Mn)As epilayer is set either parallel or antiparallel to a current-induced non-equilibrium spin polarization of carriers. In our structure, this linear-in-current magnetoresistance reaches 0.2\% at current density of $10^6$ A cm${}^{-2}$.

5 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Dissipationless Quantum Spin Current at Room Temperature
• Spin Transfer Torques
• Current induced electron spin polarization in strained semiconductors
• Magneto-gyrotropic effects in semiconductor quantum wells (review)
• Disentangling relativistic spin torques in a ferromagnet/semiconductor bilayer

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Large Unidirectional Magnetoresistance in a Magnetic Topological Insulator
• Nonlinear planar Hall effect
• Theory of unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance in heavy-metal/ferromagnetic-metal bilayers
• Symmetry analysis of current-induced switching of antiferromagnets
• Giant unidirectional magnetoresistance in topological insulator -- ferromagnetic semiconductor heterostructures
• Unidirectional orbital magnetoresistance in light metal/ferromagnet bilayers
• Thickness dependence of unidirectional spin-Hall magnetoresistance in metallic bilayers
• Unidirectional Magnetoresistance in Antiferromagnet/Heavy-metal bilayers
• Chiral anisotropic magnetoresistance of ferromagnetic helices
• Large Unidirectional Magnetoresistance in Metallic Heterostructures in the Spin Transfer Torque Regime
• Spin anomalous-Hall unidirectional magnetoresistance
• Non-reciprocal magnetoresistance, directional inhomogeneity and mixed symmetry Hall devices
• Nonlinear response induced by Ferromagnetism in a Noncentrosymmetric Kondo Lattice system
• Theory of unidirectional magnetoresistance and nonlinear Hall effect