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Spin orbit torques (SOTs) are being actively considered for use in the next generation memory devices for magnetization switching, spin oscillators and racetrack memories, including those using magnetic skyrmions. SOTs are fundamentally based on charge-to-spin conversion by the spin-Hall or Rashba effect. Taking advantage of the spin current, the torques can be used to switch magnetic insulators or the free layer of magnetic tunnel junctions with high energy efficiency. Therefore, it is important to accurately measure the charge-to-spin conversion efficiency. SOTs are principally of interest in nanostructured samples, samples with minimum dimension less than a micron. However, the magnitude and form of the torques are most often characterized in micron scale samples, using spin torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR), a technique that involves analyzing the resonance linewidth [1] or lineshape [2]. On microstructures, these two analysis methods are quite consistent. Here we present ST-FMR results on permalloy Ni80Fe20 nanowires --- with widths varying from 150 to 800 nm --- that show that the standard model used to analyze the resonance linewidth and lineshape give different results [3]. Fig. 1 a-c show examples of ST-FMR spectra. Fig. 1d shows the efficiency of nanowires with different width, which shows greatly enhanced efficiency when the lineshape method is used. We present a ST-FMR model that properly accounts for the sample shape. It shows a much better consistency between the two methods, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Micromagnetic simulations are used to verify the model. These results and the more accurate nanowire model presented are of importance for characterizing and optimizing charge-to-spin conversion efficiencies in nanostructures.References: [1] S. Petit et al., Physical Review Letters 98, 077203 (2007) [2] L. Liu et al., Physics Review Letters 106, 036601 (2011). [3] J.-W. Xu et al., arXiv:2004.03784(2020). [to appear in Physical Review Applied]

MMM 2020

Charge-to-spin conversion efficiency in ferromagnetic nanowires by spin torque ferromagnetic resonance: Reconciling lineshape and linewidth analysis methods

The 65th Annual Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (MMM 2020) was held in a virtual form. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its associated uncertainty about international travel and the ability to gather in large groups, meant that the Steering Committee decided to cancel the face-to-face meeting that had been planned in Palm Beach, Florida November 2-6, 2020.

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technical paper

Applying electric field to control magnetic properties would be a very convenient and energy-efficient way for spintronics devices. However, the control of magnetic characteristics by electric fields is not straightforward, due to the time-reversal symmetry of magnetism versus spatial inversion symmetry of electricity. Such fundamental difficulty makes it challenging to modify the topology of magnetic skyrmionic states with electric field. Here, we propose a novel mechanism that realizes the electric-field (E) switching of magnetic topological charge (Q) in a controllable and reversible fashion, through the mediation of electric polarization (P) and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (D). Such mechanism is coined here EPDQ. Its validity is demonstrated in a multiferroic VOI2 monolayer, which is predicted to host magnetic bimerons. The change in magnetic anisotropy is found to play a crucial role in realizing EPDQ process and its microscopic origin is discussed. Our study thus provides a new approach toward the highly-desired electric-field control of magnetism.

Electric-Field Switching of Magnetic Topological Charge in Type-I Multiferroics

Magnetic skyrmions are topological spin textures holding great potential as nanoscale information carriers. Recently, skyrmions have been predicted in antiferromagnets, with key advantages over their ferromagnetic analogs [1,2]; they produce no dipolar fields, making them stable at the nanometer scale in zero external magnetic field; they are robust against perturbation due to magnetic fields, which is beneficial for data retention; they exhibit zero net topological charge [1,3], thus eliminating the unwanted transverse velocity related to the skyrmion Hall effect, [4,5], thereby ensuring a straight skyrmion trajectory with enhanced mobility [1]. Here we show that skyrmions can be stabilized at zero field and room temperature in an IrMn thin film exchange-coupled to a ferromagnetic layer. A Ta/Cu/IrMn(5)/Pt(0.5)/Co(0.3)/NiFe(0.9)/Al (nm) stack was deposited by magnetron sputtering on a Si substrate and annealed at 250°C for 30 minutes under a perpendicular magnetic field to achieve exchange bias (see Fig.1a). Using the high-spatial-resolution magnetic microscopy technique X-PEEM, we observe that exchange bias allows the stabilization of magnetic skyrmions at zero field and room temperature in the Co/NiFe (see Fig.1b, Fe edge). X-PEEM image of the uncompensated Mn spin at the IrMn interface show that these skyrmions are replicated within the IrMn layer (see Fig1c, Mn edge). This result opens up a path for logic and memory devices based on skyrmion manipulation in antiferromagnets.References: [1] J. Barker et al., Phys Rev Lett 116, 147203 (2016). [2] O. Gomonay et al., Nat. Phys. 14, 213 (2018). [3] L. Šmejkal et al., Nat. Phys. 14, 242 (2018). [4] W. Jiang et al., Nat. Phys. 13, 162 (2017). [5] R. Juge et al., Phys Rev Appl. 12, 44007 (2019).

Stabilisation of skyrmions in an antiferromagnet at room temperature using exchange bias

When the crystalline symmetries that protect a higher-order topological phase are not preserved at the boundaries of the sample, gapless hinge modes or in-gap corner states cannot be stabilized. Therefore, careful engineering of the sample termination is required. Similarly, magnetic textures, whose quantum fluctuations determine the supported magnonic excitations, tend to relax to new configurations that may also break crystalline symmetries when boundaries are introduced. Here we uncover that antiskyrmion crystals provide an experimentally accessible platform to realize a magnonic quadrupole topological insulator, whose hallmark signatures are robust magnonic corner states. Furthermore, we show that tuning an applied magnetic field can trigger the self-assembly of antiskyrmions carrying a fractional topological charge along the sample edges. Crucially, these fractional antiskyrmions restore the symmetries needed to enforce the emergence of the magnonic corner states. Using the machinery of nested Wilson loops, adapted to magnonic systems supported by noncollinear magnetic textures, we demonstrate the quantization of the bulk quadrupole moment, edge dipole moments, and corner charges.References: [1] T. Hirosawa, S. A. Díaz, J. Klinovaja, and D. Loss, arXiv:2005.05884

Magnonic Quadrupole Topological Insulator in Antiskyrmion Crystals

Magnetic skyrmions [1,2], topologically protected magnetic quasi-particles, are at the core of many recently proposed spintronic devices. Most of the materials systems shown hosting magnetic skyrmions at room temperature [3-5] are characterized by [heavy metals]\ferromagnet interfaces to generate a strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and need an external magnetic field to stabilize the skyrmions. From an application point of view, both the use of heavy metals and the need for an external magnetic field are limitations. The former are usually rare, which makes them expensive; the latter is not compatible with nanoelectronics due to scalability issues. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to have a robust and tunable protocol to build systems made only with light metals which can host magnetic skyrmions in zero external magnetic field. Here we report [6] the observation of isolated magnetic skyrmions at room temperature and zero magnetic field, stabilized through interlayer exchange coupling [7,8] between a reference magnet and a free magnet (Fig. 1). In our stack, both magnets and the non-magnetic spacer in between are made out of 3d transition metals, and by carefully changing the thickness of the spacer we can tune the size of the observed skyrmions, whose 3D spin-texture is directly imaged by spin-polarized low energy electron microscopy. In addition, via density functional theory calculations we gain a deeper understanding on the origin of the DMI in such systems, allowing us to extract the strength of the DMI, which compares well with experimental results. Our findings open up the possibility to develop cheap skyrmion-based spintronic devices suitable for general-use applications which go beyond modern nanoelectronics.References: [1] A. Bogdanov and A. Hubert, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 138, 255 (1994). [2] N. Romming et al., Science 341, 636 (2013). [3] C. Moreau-Luchaire et al., Nat. Nanotechnol. 11, 444 (2016). [4] S. Woo et al., Nat. Mater. 15, 501 (2016). [5] A. Soumyanarayanan et al., Nat. Mater. 16, 898 (2017). [6] R. Lo Conte et al., Nano Lett. (2020), https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00137. [7] G. Chen et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 242404 (2015). [8] A. K. Nandy et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 177202 (2016).

Tuning zero-field magnetic skyrmions in all-light-metals multilayers

Magnetic skyrmions and antiskyrmions are topologically protected non-collinear spin textures. They have opposite topological charges of +1 and – 1 owing the differently winding of the in-plane spin component about a fixed direction of the core1. The existence of them in a material system mostly depends on the symmetry of the underlying crystal structure. For example, cubic B20 compounds host Bloch skyrmion of isotropic spin texture2, whereas D2d symmetry compounds have anisotropic spin texture named 'antiskyrmion'3,4. Antiskyrmions comprise of alternating chiral boundaries of helicoids and cycloids. They found in two varieties of shape, namely round and square-shaped antiskyrmion5. Here for the first time, using the Lorentz microscopy technique, we have discovered elliptical shape skyrmions in the same material which comprises of Bloch walls only 5. We named them as "elliptical Bloch skyrmions". The elliptical skyrmion's major axis is oriented along the helical propagation directions, [100] and [010], and have opposite chiralities. They are found as spare and lattice states. Interestingly, both topological structure phases can also be stabilized in zero biased fields and below, over wide temperature ranges. It is found that in D2d long-range dipole-dipole interactions play a significant rule for the stabilization of those different opposite topological spin textures. Micromagnetic simulations also confirms these nano-objects. Antiskyrmions are mostly found in room temperature and above, and in lower temperatures, elliptical Bloch skyrmion is observed. At a critical temperature of 268 K, both these nano-objects are stabilized. We also performed experiment at room temperature on the nano-stripes. The transformation and density variation of antiskyrmions and elliptical Bloch skyrmions occur here that depend on the degree of tilting6. Notably, those nano-objects in the nano-tracks produce as a single chain form in the middle of the track even without giving an in-plane field that was indeed needed in the broad width lamellae. The novel and unanticipated finding of opposite topological charges of 1in one material system make the family of D2d material exceptional.References: 1. A. Bogdanov, U. Roeßler and K.-H. Mueller, Phys. Rev. B, 66, 214410 (2002) 2. S. Muehlbauer, B. Binz and C. Pfleiderer, Science, 323, 915-919 (2009) 3. A. K. Nayak, V. Kumar and S. S. P. Parkin, Nature, 548, 561 (2017) 4. J. Jena, R. Stinshoff and S. S. P. Parkin, Nano Lett., 20, 59−65 (2019) 5. J. Jena, B. Goebel and S. S. P. Parkin, Nat. Commun., 11, 1115 (2020) 6. J Jena, B. Goebel and S. S. P. Parkin, Submitted., XX,XXX (2020)

Observation of opposite topological charges in single D2d Heusler compound

Recently, two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) systems with a ferromagnetic behavior were found [1], [2], [3], [4], representing exciting opportunities for magneto-optics and magneto-electric applications. In those materials, the long-range magnetic order exists despite the thermal fluctuations of the Mermin-Wagner theorem because of a strong magnetic anisotropy. The compound Fe3GeTe2 (FGT) stands as a promising candidate among the vdW structures due to the tunability of its ferromagnetism under an electric field, allowing to rise the Curie temperature above 300 K [5]. In recent experiments by Park et al. on non-oxidized multilayer of FGT [6], Bloch skyrmions were observed using Differential Phase Contrast Microscopy and Lorentz Transmission Electron Microscopy and their stability cannot be explained by the existence of a chiral interaction such as Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI), forbidden by the centrosymmetric structure of FGT. In this work, we numerically study the magnetic textures hosted by FGT using the micromagnetic solver Mumax3 [7] and axisymmetric simulations [8] to apprehend the phenomena at play. We demonstrate the existence of small hybrid magnetic textures, composed of Bloch skyrmionic bubbles in the middle of the structure with Néel “caps” close to the interface. These bubbles are stable in FGT for a range of external magnetic field and take sizes in the range of 20 nm for perpendicular fields in the range of a few 10 of mT comparable with the experimental observations. We would like to acknowledge S.Woo, X. Yu, A. Hassan and M. Chsiev for fruitful discussions. The ANR grant TOPSky TOPSKY (ANR-17-CE24-0025), the FLAGERA 2019 SOgraphMEM and the EU grant SKYTOP (H2020 FET Proactive 824123) are acknowledged for their financial support.References: [1] Cheng Gong et al., Nature 546, no. 7657 (June 2017): 265–69. [2] Shengwei Jiang, Jie Shan, and Kin Fai Mak, Nature Materials 17, no. 5 (May 2018): 406–10. [3] Jie Liu et al., AIP Advances 8, no. 5 (May 2018): 055316. [4] Bevin Huang et al., Nature 546, no. 7657 (June 2017): 270–73. [5] Yujun Deng et al., Nature 563, no. 7729 (November 2018): 94–99. [6] Park, Tae-Eon, et al., arXiv preprint arXiv:1907.01425 (2019). [7] Arne Vansteenkiste et al., AIP Advances 4, no. 10 (October 2014): 107133. [8] William Legrand et al., Physical Review Applied 10, no. 6 (December 2018): 064042.

Micromagnetic Simulations Of Skyrmionic Bubbles In The Van Der Waals Structure Fe3GeTe2

Non-equilibrium phenomena of quasiparticles (QPs) in a spin-split superconductor (SC) rely on the mutual coupling between different non-equilibrium imbalances of spin, charge, heat, and spin-heat [1]. Although recent experiments and theories have shown a variety of exotic transport properties in SC-based devices with either Zeeman or exchange spin splitting [1], how QP interplays with magnon spin currents [2] remains elusive. Here, using non-local magnon spin-transport devices [3] where a singlet SC (Nb) on top of a ferrimagnetic insulator (Y3Fe5O12) serves as a magnon spin detector, we demonstrate that the conversion efficiency of magnon spin to QP charge via inverse spin-Hall effect (iSHE) in such an exchange-spin-split SC [4] can be greatly enhanced by up to 3 orders of magnitude compared with that in the normal state, particularly when its interface superconducting gap matches the magnon spin accumulation. Through systematic measurements with varying the current density and SC thickness, we identify that superconducting coherence peaks and exchange spin-splitting of the QP density-of-states, yielding a larger spin excitation while retaining a modest QP charge-imbalance relaxation, are responsible for the giant QP iSHE. Our results provide a new device concept in which the non-local voltage created from long-rage magnon-carried spin is orders of magnitude controllable by turning the superconductivity on and off [5].References: [1] F. S. Bergeret, M. Silaev, P. Virtanen, and T. T. Heikkilä, Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 041001 (2018). [2] L. J. Cornelissen, J. Liu, R. A. Duine, J. Ben Youssef, and B. J. van Wees, Nat. Phys. 11, 1022 (2015). [3] A. V. Chumak, V. I. Vasyuchka, A. A. Serga, and B. Hillebrands, Nat. Phys. 11, 453 (2015). [4] M. Silaev, P. Virtanen, F. S. Bergeret, and T. T. Heikkilä, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 167002 (2015) [5] K.-R. Jeon, J.-C. Jeon, X. Zhou, A. Migliorini, J. Yoon and S. S. P. Parkin, arXiv:2004.09467 (2020).

Giant transition-state enhancement of quasiparticle spin-Hall effect in an exchange-spin-split superconductor detected by non-local magnon spin-transport

Spin-dependent scattering transport at heavy metal (HM)/magnetic insulator (MI) interface can be described in terms of three parameters: the spin-sink conductance Gs and the real and imaginary part of the spin-mixing conductance, G↑↓=Gr+iGi [1,2]. Each parameter is relevant for different spin-dependent phenomena. For instance, Gs originates from spin-flip processes and therefore is the leading parameter in electrical biasing of magnons [3], whereas Gr accounts for the spin-transfer (Slonczewski) torque to the magnetization and plays a fundamental role in spin-pumping experiments [4]. On the other hand, Gi quantifies the interfacial exchange field, which induces a field-like torque in the conduction electrons of the HM and is important for example in spin-splitting field experiments in superconductivity [5]. These conductances are broadly studied in ferrimagnetic insulators, where usually the contribution of Gr is much larger than that of Gi [6], leading to only a few reports on the exchange field at HM/MI interfaces [7]. In this work [8], we study the three spin conductance terms by spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) in a new system: a ferromagnetic insulator (FMI) such as EuS. By SMR measurements as a function of the temperature, and taking advantage of the newly developed microscopic theory for SMR [2], we can extract relevant microscopic parameters such as the exchange interaction between the 1s electrons in Pt and the localized magnetic moments in EuS (Jint~18 meV) [8]. An interfacial exchange field of the order of 1 meV (~15 T) acting upon the conduction electrons of Pt can be estimated from Gi, which is at least three times larger than Gr below the Curie temperature [8]. Our work provides an easy method to quantify this interfacial spin-splitting field, which is of interest in different areas of Condensed Matter Physics, such as proximity effects in superconducting hybrid systems.References: [1] T.-Y. Chen et al., Phys Rev. B 87, 144411 (2013) [2] X.-P. Zhang et al., Nano Lett. 19, 6330 (2019) [3] L. J. Cornelissen et al., Nat. Phys. 11, 1022 (2015). [4] M. Weiler et. al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 111, 176601 (2013) [5] B. Li et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 097001 (2013). [6] X. Jia et al., Europhysics Lett. 96, 17005 (2011). [7] N. Vlietstra et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 032401 (2013); T. Kosub et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 113, 222409 (2018). [8] J. M. Gomez-Perez et al., arXiv:2004.12009 (2020)

Strong Interfacial Exchange Field in a Heavy Metal/Ferromagnetic Insulator System Determined by Spin Hall Magnetoresistance

Relatively little work has been done to date to understand the transport of spin waves generated via ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) in anisotropic high-temperature superconductors. To this end, we have fabricated bilayers of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) with the half-metallic ferromagnet lanthanum strontium manganite (LSMO) via pulsed laser deposition on (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2TaAlO6)0.7 (LSAT) (001) substrates. We fix the LSMO thickness at 30 nm and vary the YBCO thickness from 2-17 nm. We have verified that the YBCO superconducts with Tc varying from 55-88 K depending on YBCO thickness (with a minimum thickness of 5 nm required for superconductivity). Since the variation in Tc with thickness is not as strong in single YBCO layers grown on LSAT substrates we believe that the magnetic exchange field from the LSMO, rather than a epitaxial strain effect, is the governing factor for Tc. To characterize spin wave transport, we performed FMR measurements on the bilayers as a function of temperature and YBCO thickness. We find that the resonance linewidth of bare LSMO increases with decreasing temperature, which is attributed to an increased contribution from two-magnon scattering at lower temperatures. Additionally, with the addition of 17 nm of YBCO, we see a near doubling of the FMR linewidth at all temperatures. Although more work needs to be done to fully characterize the system, these results possibly point to spin wave dissipation in the YBCO layer, which has not previously been observed.

Spin transport in La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/YBa2Cu3O7-δ bilayers

Magnetic skyrmions have attracted enormous research interest since their discovery a decade ago. Especially the non-trivial real-space topology of these nano-whirls leads to fundamentally interesting and technologically relevant effects – the skyrmion Hall effect of the texture and the topological Hall effect of the electrons. Furthermore, it grants skyrmions in a ferromagnetic surrounding great stability even at small sizes, making skyrmions aspirants to become the carriers of information in the future. Still, the utilization of skyrmions in spintronic devices has not been achieved yet, among others, due to shortcomings in their current-driven motion. In this talk, we present recent trends in the field of topological spin textures that go beyond skyrmions [1]. The majority of these objects can be considered the combination of multiple skyrmions or the skyrmion analogues in different magnetic surroundings, as well as three-dimensional generalizations. We classify the alternative magnetic quasiparticles – some of them observed experimentally, others theoretical predictions – and present the most relevant and auspicious advantages of this emerging field. A special focus is on magnetic antiskyrmions [2], bimerons [3], antiferromagnetic skyrmions [4] and hopfions [5]. These objects (shown in Fig. 1) exhibit advantageous emergent electrodynamic effects compared to skyrmions, either due to their lower symmetry or due to a compensated topological charge.References: [1] B. Göbel, I. Mertig, O. Tretiakov “Beyond skyrmions: Review and perspectives of alternative magnetic quasiparticles” arXiv preprint: 2005.01390 [2] J. Jena*, B. Göbel*, T. Ma, V. Kumar, R. Saha, I. Mertig, C. Felser, S. Parkin. “Elliptical Bloch skyrmion chiral twins in an antiskyrmion system” Nature Communications 11, 1115 (2020). [3] B. Göbel, A. Mook, J. Henk, I. Mertig, O. Tretiakov. “Magnetic bimerons as skyrmion analogues in in-plane magnets” Phys. Rev. B. 99, 060407(R) (2019). [4] B. Göbel, A. Mook, J. Henk, I. Mertig, “Antiferromagnetic skyrmion crystals: Generation, topological Hall, and topological spin Hall effect” Phys. Rev. B. 96, 060406(R) (2017). [5] B. Göbel, C. Akosa, G. Tatara, I. Mertig. “Topological Hall signatures of magnetic hopfions” Phys. Rev. Research 2, 013315 (2020).

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Charge-to-spin conversion efficiency in ferromagnetic nanowires by spin torque ferromagnetic resonance: Reconciling lineshape and linewidth analysis methods

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