Heterostructures utilizing topological insulators exhibit a remarkable spin-torque efficiency. However, the exact origin of the strong torque, in particular whether it stems from the spin-momentum ...locking of the topological surface states or rather from spin-Hall physics of the topological-insulator bulk, remains unclear. Here, we explore a mechanism of spin-torque generation purely based on the topological surface states. We consider topological-insulator-based bilayers involving ferromagnetic metal (TI/FM) and magnetically doped topological insulators (TI/mdTI), respectively. By ascribing the key theoretical differences between the two setups to location and number of active surface states, we describe both setups within the same framework of spin diffusion of the nonequilibrium spin density of the topological surface states. For the TI/FM bilayer, we find large spin-torque efficiencies of roughly equal magnitude for both in-plane and out-of-plane spin torques. For the TI/mdTI bilayer, we elucidate the dominance of the spin-transfer-like torque. However, we cannot explain the orders of magnitude enhancement reported. Nevertheless, our model gives an intuitive picture of spin-torque generation in topological-insulator-based bilayers and provides theoretical constraints on spin-torque generation due to topological surface states.
We investigate the influence of surface states on the nonlinear Hall response driven by the Berry curvature dipole in non-centrosymmetric time-reversal invariant Weyl semimetals. To do so, we perform ...a tomography of the Berry curvature dipole in a slab system using a minimal two-band model. We find that in the type-I phase, the nonlinear Hall response is not particularly sensitive to the presence of Fermi arcs or other trivial surface states. However, in the type-II phase, we find that these surface states, be they topologically trivial or not, contribute substantially to the Berry curvature dipole, leading to a strong thickness dependence of the nonlinear Hall response. This feature depends on the nature of the surface states and, henceforth, on the slab geometry adopted. In order to assess the validity of this scenario for realistic systems, we performed Berry curvature dipole calculations by first principles on the WTe2, confirming the dramatic impact of surface states for selected slab geometries. Our results suggest that surface states, being topological or not, can contribute much more efficiently to the nonlinear Hall response than bulk states. This prediction is not limited to topological semimetals and should apply to topologically trivial non-centrosymmetric materials and heterostructures, paving the way to interfacial engineering of the nonlinear Hall effect.
We present a combined theoretical and experimental study, investigating the origin of the enhanced nonadiabaticity of magnetic vortex cores. Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy is used to image ...the vortex core gyration dynamically to measure the nonadiabaticity with high precision, including a high confidence upper bound. We show theoretically, that the large nonadiabaticity parameter observed experimentally can be explained by the presence of local spin currents arising from a texture induced emergent Hall effect. This study demonstrates that the magnetic damping α and nonadiabaticity parameter β are very sensitive to the topology of the magnetic textures, resulting in an enhanced ratio (β/α>1) in magnetic vortex cores or Skyrmions.
We theoretically predict that vanadium-based Janus dichalcogenide monolayers constitute an ideal platform for spin-orbit torque memories. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that ...magnetic exchange and magnetic anisotropy energies are higher for heavier chalcogen atoms, while the broken inversion symmetry in the Janus form leads to the emergence of Rashba-like spin-orbit coupling. The spin-orbit torque efficiency is evaluated using optimized quantum transport methodology and found to be comparable to heavy nonmagnetic metals. The coexistence of magnetism and spin-orbit coupling in such materials with tunable Fermi-level opens new possibilities for monitoring magnetization dynamics in the perspective of nonvolatile magnetic random access memories.
The search for chiral magnetic textures in systems lacking spatial inversion symmetry has attracted a massive amount of interest in the recent years with the real space observation of novel exotic ...magnetic phases such as skyrmions lattices, but also domain walls and spin spirals with a defined chirality. The electrical control of these textures offers thrilling perspectives in terms of fast and robust ultrahigh density data manipulation. A powerful ingredient commonly used to stabilize chiral magnetic states is the so-called Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) arising from spin-orbit coupling in inversion asymmetric magnets. Such a large antisymmetric exchange has been obtained at interfaces between heavy metals and transition metal ferromagnets, resulting in spin spirals and nanoskyrmion lattices. Here, using relativistic first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that the magnitude and sign of DMI can be entirely controlled by tuning the oxygen coverage of the magnetic film, therefore enabling the smart design of chiral magnetism in ultra-thin films. We anticipate that these results extend to other electronegative ions and suggest the possibility of electrical tuning of exotic magnetic phases.
We compute the spin-orbit torque in a transition-metal heterostructure using Slater-Koster parametrization in the two-center tight-binding approximation and accounting for d orbitals only. In this ...method, the spin-orbit coupling is modeled within Russel-Saunders scheme, which enables us to treat interfacial and bulk spin-orbit transport on equal footing. The two components of the spin-orbit torque, dissipative (dampinglike) and reactive (fieldlike), are computed within Kubo linear response theory. By systematically studying their thickness and angular dependence, we were able to accurately characterize these components beyond the traditional inverse spin galvanic and spin Hall effects. We find that the conventional fieldlike torque is purely interfacial. In contrast, we unambiguously demonstrate that the conventional dampinglike torque possesses both an interfacial and a bulk contribution. In addition, both fieldlike and dampinglike torques display substantial angular dependence with strikingly different thickness behaviors. While the planar contribution of the fieldlike torque decreases smoothly with the nonmagnetic metal thickness, the planar contribution of the dampinglike torque increases dramatically with the nonmagnetic metal thickness. Finally, we investigate the self-torque exerted on the ferromagnet when the spin-orbit coupling of the nonmagnetic metal is turned off. Our results suggest that the spin accumulation that builds up inside the ferromagnet can be large enough to induce magnetic excitations.
We study spin-orbit torques in two-dimensional hexagonal crystals such as graphene, silicene, germanene, and stanene. The torque possesses two components, a fieldlike term due to inverse spin ...galvanic effect and an antidamping torque originating from Berry curvature in mixed spin-k space. In the presence of staggered potential and exchange field, the valley degeneracy can be lifted and we obtain a valley-dependent Berry curvature, leading to a tunable antidamping torque by controlling the valley degree of freedom. The valley imbalance can be as high as 100% by tuning the bias voltage or magnetization angle. These findings open new venues for the development of current-driven spin-orbit torques by structural design.
Abstract
The magnon band topology due to the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) and its relevant topological thermal Hall effect has been extensively studied in kagome lattice magnets. In this ...theoretical investigation, we report a new mechanism for phase transitions between topological phases of magnons in kagome ferromagnets by tuning the anisotropic nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic interaction and DMI. Using the linear spin-wave theory, we calculate the Chern number and thermal Hall conductivity of magnons in low temperature regime. We show the magnon band structures and magnonic edge states in each topological phase. From the topological phase diagram, we find a sign reversal of the thermal Hall conductivity upon tuning the modulation factors. We explicitly demonstrate the correspondence of thermal Hall conductivity with the propagation direction of the magnonic edge states. Finally, we discuss candidate materials as experimental realizations of our theoretical model.
We study spin-orbit torques and charge pumping in magnetic quasi-one-dimensional zigzag nanoribbons with a hexagonal lattice, in the presence of large intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. Such a system ...experiences a topological phase transition from a trivial band insulator to a quantum spin Hall insulator by tuning of either the magnetization direction or the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. We find that the spin-charge conversion efficiency (i.e., spin-orbit torque and charge pumping) is dramatically enhanced at the topological transition, displaying a substantial angular anisotropy.
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