Electric-field control of spin–orbit torque in a magnetically doped topological insulator

• Published in: Nature nanotechnology Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 352 - 359
• Main Authors: Fan, Yabin, Kou, Xufeng, Upadhyaya, Pramey, Shao, Qiming, Pan, Lei, Lang, Murong, Che, Xiaoyu, Tang, Jianshi, Montazeri, Mohammad, Murata, Koichi, Chang, Li-Te, Akyol, Mustafa, Yu, Guoqiang, Nie, Tianxiao, Wong, Kin L., Liu, Jun, Wang, Yong, Tserkovnyak, Yaroslav, Wang, Kang L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.04.2016; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 142/126; 147/137; 147/3; 639/301/119/1001; 639/301/119/2792; 639/925/357/997; 639/925/927/1062; Anisotropy; Chromium; Devices; Electric potential; Electromagnetism; Energy efficiency; Gates; Heavy metals; Insulators; Magnetic fields; Magnetization; Materials Science; Molecular beam epitaxy; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; phonons, thermal conductivity, thermoelectric, spin dynamics, spintronics; Semiconductors; Thin films; Voltage; Los Angeles California; United States > US; California
• ISSN: 1748-3387; 1748-3395
• DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2015.294

Electric-field manipulation of magnetic order has proved of both fundamental and technological importance in spintronic devices. So far, electric-field control of ferromagnetism, magnetization and magnetic anisotropy has been explored in various magnetic materials, but the efficient electric-field control of spin–orbit torque (SOT) still remains elusive. Here, we report the effective electric-field control of a giant SOT in a Cr-doped topological insulator (TI) thin film using a top-gate field-effect transistor structure. The SOT strength can be modulated by a factor of four within the accessible gate voltage range, and it shows strong correlation with the spin-polarized surface current in the film. Furthermore, we demonstrate the magnetization switching by scanning gate voltage with constant current and in-plane magnetic field applied in the film. The effective electric-field control of SOT and the giant spin-torque efficiency in Cr-doped TI may lead to the development of energy-efficient gate-controlled spin-torque devices compatible with modern field-effect semiconductor technologies. Electric field control of spin–orbit torque and magnetization switching can be achieved in a Cr-doped topological insulator thin film incorporated in a field-effect transistor structure, promising gate-controlled spintronic applications.