Efficient spin torques in antiferromagnetic CoO/Pt quantified by comparing field- and current- induced switching

Abstract

We achieve current-induced switching in collinear insulating antiferromagnetic CoO/Pt, with fourfold in-plane magnetic anisotropy. This is measured electrically by spin Hall magnetoresistance and confirmed by the magnetic field-induced spin-flop transition of the CoO layer. By applying current pulses and magnetic fields, we quantify the efficiency of the acting current-induced torques and estimate a current-field equivalence ratio of $4x10^{-11}T{A}^{-1}{m}^2$. The Néel vector final state ($n\perp j$) is in line with a thermomagnetoelastic switching mechanism for a negative magnetoelastic constant of the CoO.

16 pages (manuscript and supplementary), 12 figures. Acknowledgments corrected