The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction is responsible for chiral magnetic textures (skyrmions, spin spiral structures, …) in systems with structural inversion asymmetry and high spin-orbit coupling. It has been shown that the domain wall (DW) dynamics in such materials can be explained by chiral DWs with (partly or fully) Néel structure, whose stability derives from an interfacial DMI [1]. In this work, we show that DMI is not the only effect inducing chiral dynamics and demonstrate the existence of a chiral damping [2]. This result is supported by the study of the asymmetry induced by an in-plane magnetic field on field induced domain wall motion in perpendicularly magnetized asymmetric Pt/Co/Pt trilayers. Whereas the asymmetry of the DW motion is consistent with the spatial symmetries expected with the DMI, we show that this asymmetry cannot be attributed to an effective field but originates from a purely dissipative mechanism.
The observation of chiral damping, not only enriches the spectrum of physical phenomena engendered by the SIA, but since it can coexist with DMI it is essential for conceiving DW and skyrmion devices.
[1] A. Thiaville, et al., EPL 100, 57002 (2012)
[2] E. Jué, et al., Nat. Mater., in press (doi: 10.1038/nmat4518)
The spin-orbit interaction constitutes a weak but essential perturbation to the Hamiltonian of magnetic systems.
Linking spins with atomic structure, spin-orbit coupling assumes a prominent role in structures of reduced
dimensionality, where it defines the internal anisotropy fields. In this paper, we discuss interface-enhanced spinorbit
effects that arise in metallic multilayers in the presence of an electric current. We demonstrate that a novel
type of spin torque can be induced in ferromagnetic metal films lacking structure inversion symmetry through the
Rashba effect. Owing to the combination of spin-orbit and exchange interactions, we show that electrons flowing
in the plane of a Co layer with asymmetric Pt and AlOx interfaces produce an effective transverse magnetic field
of 1 T per 108 A/cm2 of applied current. This torque does not require a current flowing through noncollinear
magnetic structures, opening new perspectives for room temperature applications in spintronics.
Conference Committee Involvement (5)
Spintronics VI
25 August 2013 | San Diego, California, United States
Spintronics V
12 August 2012 | San Diego, California, United States
Spintronics IV
21 August 2011 | San Diego, California, United States
Spintronics III
1 August 2010 | San Diego, California, United States
Spintronics II
2 August 2009 | San Diego, California, United States
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