Spin-orbit torque induced electrical switching of antiferromagnetic MnN

Abstract

Electrical switching and readout of antiferromagnets allows to exploit the unique properties of antiferromagnetic materials in nanoscopic electronic devices. Here we report experiments on the spin-orbit torque induced electrical switching of a polycrystalline, metallic antiferromagnet with low anisotropy and high Néel temperature. We demonstrate the switching in a Ta / MnN / Pt trilayer system, deposited by (reactive) magnetron sputtering. The dependence of switching amplitude, efficiency, and relaxation are studied with respect to the MnN film thickness, sample temperature, and current density. Our findings are consistent with a thermal activation model and resemble to a large extent previous measurements on CuMnAs and Mn${}_2$Au, which exhibit similar switching characteristics due to an intrinsic spin-orbit torque.

arXiv comment7 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Observation of current-induced switching in non-collinear antiferromagnetic IrMn${}_3$ by differential voltage measurements
• Magnetoresistance effects in the metallic antiferromagnet Mn${}_2$Au
• Resistive contribution in electrical switching experiments with antiferromagnets
• Spin-Orbit Torque Switching of Noncollinear Antiferromagnetic Antiperovskite Manganese Nitride Mn${}_3$GaN
• Systematic study of nonmagnetic resistance changes due to electrical pulsing in single metal layers and metal/antiferromagnet bilayers
• Hysteretic effects and magnetotransport of electrically switched CuMnAs
• Thermal Contribution in the Electrical Switching Experiments with Heavy Metal / Antiferromagnet Structures
• Low-Energy Switching of Antiferromagnetic CuMnAs/ GaP Using sub-10 Nanosecond Current Pulses
• First-principles calculations of spin-orbit torques in Mn${}_2$Au/heavy-metal bilayers