Spin‐Orbit Torque Switching of a Nearly Compensated Ferrimagnet by Topological Surface States

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 31; no. 35; pp. e1901681 - n/a
• Main Authors: Wu, Hao, Xu, Yong, Deng, Peng, Pan, Quanjun, Razavi, Seyed Armin, Wong, Kin, Huang, Li, Dai, Bingqian, Shao, Qiming, Yu, Guoqiang, Han, Xiufeng, Rojas‐Sánchez, Juan‐Carlos, Mangin, Stéphane, Wang, Kang L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2019; Wiley-VCH Verlag; Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
• Subjects: Charge efficiency; current‐induced magnetization switching; Ferrimagnetism; Ferrimagnets; Magnetic moments; Materials science; Physics; spin‐orbit torque; Switching; Topological insulators; Torque; ferrimagnets; spin-orbit torque; topological insulators; current-induced magnetization switching
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201901681

Utilizing spin‐orbit torque (SOT) to switch a magnetic moment provides a promising route for low‐power‐dissipation spintronic devices. Here, the SOT switching of a nearly compensated ferrimagnet Gdx(FeCo)1−x by the topological insulator [Bi2Se3 and (BiSb)2Te3] is investigated at room temperature. The switching current density of (BiSb)2Te3 (1.20 × 105 A cm−2) is more than one order of magnitude smaller than that in conventional heavy‐metal‐based structures, which indicates the ultrahigh efficiency of charge‐spin conversion (>1) in topological surface states. By tuning the net magnetic moment of Gdx(FeCo)1−x via changing the composition, the SOT efficiency has a significant enhancement (6.5 times) near the magnetic compensation point, and at the same time the switching speed can be as fast as several picoseconds. Combining the topological surface states and the nearly compensated ferrimagnets provides a promising route for practical energy‐efficient and high‐speed spintronic devices. Spin‐momentum locking in topological surface states promises ultrahigh spin‐orbit torque efficiency compared to bulk spin‐orbit coupling, where the energy dissipation can be reduced by one to two orders of magnitude. At the same time, near the magnetic compensation point of ferrimagnets, the spin‐orbit torque efficiency can be significantly enhanced.