Ultra-low-power orbital-controlled magnetization switching using a ferromagnetic oxide interface

Bibliographic Details
Title: Ultra-low-power orbital-controlled magnetization switching using a ferromagnetic oxide interface
Authors: Anh, Le Duc, Yamashita, Takashi, Yamasaki, Hiroki, Araki, Daisei, Seki, Munetoshi, Tabata, Hitoshi, Tanaka, Masaaki, Ohya, Shinobu
Source: Phys. Rev. Applied 12, 041001 (2019)
Publication Year: 2019
Collection: Condensed Matter
Subject Terms: Condensed Matter - Materials Science
More Details: A major challenge in spin-based electronics is reducing power consumption for magnetization switching of ferromagnets, which is being implemented by injecting a large spin-polarized current. The alternative approach is to control the magnetic anisotropy (MA) of the ferromagnet by an electric field. However, the voltage-induced MA is too weak to deterministically switch the magnetization without an assisting magnetic field, and the strategy towards this goal remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate a new scheme of orbital-controlled magnetization switching (OCMS): A sharp change in the MA is induced when the Fermi level is moved between energy bands with different orbital symmetries. Using a ferromagnetic oxide interface, we show that OCMS can be used to achieve a deterministic and magnetic-field-free 90 degree-magnetization switching solely by applying an extremely small electric field of 0.05 V/nm with a negligibly small current density of 10^-2 A/cm^2. Our results highlight the huge potential of band engineering in ferromagnetic materials for efficient magnetization control.
Document Type: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.12.041001
Access URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/1904.10599
Accession Number: edsarx.1904.10599
Database: arXiv
More Details
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.12.041001