Mixed Weyl semimetals and dissipationless magnetization control in insulators by spin-orbit torques

Abstract

Reliable and energy efficient magnetization switching by electrically-induced spin-orbit torques is of crucial technological relevance for spintronic devices implementing memory and logic functionality. Here we predict that the strength of spin-orbit torques and the related Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in topologically non-trivial magnetic insulators can exceed by far that of conventional metallic magnets. In analogy to the quantum anomalous Hall effect, we explain this extraordinary response in absence of longitudinal currents as a hallmark of magnetic monopoles in the electronic structure of systems that are interpreted most naturally within the framework of mixed Weyl semimetals. We thereby launch the effect of spin-orbit torque into the field of topology and reveal its crucial role in mediating the topological phase transitions arising due to the complex interplay between magnetization direction and momentum-space topology. The concepts presented here may be exploited to understand and utilize magneto-electric coupling phenomena in insulating ferromagnets and antiferromagnets.

arXiv comment9 pages (7 pages + 2 pages supplementary material)

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• Spin direction controlled electronic band structure in two dimensional ferromagnetic CrI3
• Mixed topological semimetals driven by orbital complexity in two-dimensional ferromagnets
• Intrinsic Nonlinear Spin Magnetoelectricity in Centrosymmetric Magnets
• Weyl Josephson Circuits
• First-principles calculation of spin-orbit torque in a Co/Pt bilayer
• Ab initio analysis of magnetic properties of prototype B20 chiral magnet FeGe
• Fully spin-polarized nodal loop semimetals in alkaline-metal monochalcogenide monolayers
• The chiral Hall effect in canted ferromagnets and antiferromagnets
• Engineering Chiral and Topological Orbital Magnetism of Domain Walls and Skyrmions
• Magnetoelectric control of topological phases in graphene
• Charge and spin photocurrents in the Rashba model
• Topological electric driving of magnetization dynamics in insulators
• Promoting $p$-based Hall effects by $p$-$d$-$f$ hybridization in Gd-based dichalcogenides
• Higher-dimensional Wannier interpolation for the modern theory of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction: Application to Co-based trilayers
• Spanning Fermi arcs in a two-dimensional magnet
• Structure, physical properties, and magnetically tunable topological phases in topological semimetal EuCuBi
• Quantum Metric Nonlinear Spin-Orbit Torque Enhanced by Topological Bands
• Lossless Spin-Orbit Torque in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Giant spin-charge conversion in ultrathin films of the MnPtSb half-Heusler compound
• Intrinsic Dynamic Generation of Spin Polarization by Time-Varying Electric Field
• Chern insulator in a ferromagnetic two-dimensional electron system with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling
• Néel Spin-Orbit Torque in Antiferromagnetic Quantum Spin and Anomalous Hall Insulators
• Mixed topology ring states for Hall effect and orbital magnetism in skyrmions of Weyl semimetals
• Magnetoelectric effect in band insulator-ferromagnet heterostructures
• Spin-orbit torque switching of Néel order in band-inverted antiferromagnetic bilayer MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Thermal Responses of Spin Density and Spin Current Induced by Bogoliubov Fermi Surfaces in Proximity Superconductors
• Topological Spin-Orbit Torque in Ferrimagnetic Weyl Semimetal