Fluctuation-Driven Enhancement of Spin-Orbit Torque near the Curie Temperature of Ultrathin Ferromagnets

Abstract

We investigate how magnetic fluctuations influence spin-orbit torque in ultrathin-film magnetic heterostructures whose Curie temperature $T_C$ is suppressed by confinement. Above $T_C$, the damping-like contribution to spin-orbit field is significantly enhanced while the field-like contribution is suppressed, with the two contributions exhibiting opposite field dependencies. We show that these behaviors are consistent with fluctuation driven mixing between the longitudinal and transverse interfacial spin conductances, which enhances absorption of transversely polarized spin current by the ferromagnet. This mechanism can be activated below $T_C$ by engineering the microscopic magnetic state and by harnessing spin current-generated short-wavelength magnons, suggesting a spintronic analog of heat-assisted magnetic recording.