Spin-orbit torques and spin accumulation in FePt/Pt and Co/Cu thin films from first principles: the role of impurities

Abstract

Using the Boltzmann formalism based on the first principles electronic structure and scattering rates, we investigate the current-induced spin accumulation and spin-orbit torques in FePt/Pt and Co/Cu bilayers in the presence of substitutional impurities. In FePt/Pt bilayers we consider the effect of intermixing of Fe and Pt atoms in the FePt layer, and find a crucial dependence of spin accumulation and spin-orbit torques on the details of the distribution of these defects. In Co/Cu bilayers we predict that the magnitude and sign of the spin-orbit torque and spin accumulation depend very sensitively on the type of the impurities used to dope the Cu substrate. Moreover, simultaneously with impurity-driven scattering we consider the effect of an additional constant quasiparticle broadening of the states at the Fermi surface to simulate phonon scattering at room temperature, and discover that even a small broadening of the order of 25 meV can drastically influence the magnitude of the considered effects. We explain our findings based on the analysis of the complex interplay of several competing Fermi surface contributions to the spin accumulation and spin-orbit torques in these structurally and chemically non-uniform systems.

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Current-induced spin-orbit torques in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems
• Interfacial spin-orbit torques
• Long-range current-induced spin accumulation in chiral crystals
• Semiclassical theory of spin-orbit torques in disordered multiband electron systems
• Semi-realistic tight-binding model for spin-orbit torques
• Spin-orbit torques and tunable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in Co/Cu/Co trilayers
• Insights into spin and charge currents crossing ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic interfaces induced by spin and anomalous Hall effect
• Spin accumulation from non-equilibrium first principles methods
• Parametric resonance of spin waves in ferromagnetic nanowires tuned by spin Hall torque
• Non-local field-like spin-orbit torques in Rashba systems: an ab-initio study of Ag${}_2$Bi/Ag/Fe film
• Strong Spin-Orbit Torque effect on magnetic defects due to topological surface state electrons in Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Electronic Impurity Scattering Induced Spin Accumulation in Metallic Thin Films