In this paper, we present a promising method for modulating the frequency of magnetic droplets using strain induced by an adjacent piezoelectric layer. This strain results in significant changes in droplet frequency (∼6 GHz) and variations in diameter or mode, while maintaining a fixed current density of 1.4×1012A/m2 under both high and low fields. By applying strain pulses, we successfully modulate the magnetic droplet frequency, paving the way for potential implementation of digital binary frequency shift-keying modulation technique with magnetic droplets. Moreover, the effects of Oersted field and the Zhang-Li torque induced by lateral current have also been discussed, showing a minimal impact on the oscillation frequencies, especially at high fields. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Perpendicularly magnetized structures that are switchable using a spin current under field-free conditions can potentially be applied in spin-orbit torque magnetic random-access memory (SOT-MRAM). Several structures have been developed; however, new structures with a simple stack structure and MRAM compatibility are urgently needed. Herein, a typical structure in a perpendicular spin-transfer torque MRAM, the Pt/Co multilayer and its synthetic antiferromagnetic counterpart with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, was observed to possess an intrinsic interlayer chiral interaction between neighboring magnetic layers, namely, the interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) effect. Furthermore, using a current parallel to the eigenvector of the interlayer DMI, we switched the perpendicular magnetization of both structures without a magnetic field, owing to the additional symmetry breaking introduced by the interlayer DMI. This SOT switching scheme realized in the Pt/Co multilayer and its synthetic antiferromagnet structure may open a new avenue toward practical perpendicular SOT-MRAM and other SOT devices.
Two-dimensional van der Waals (2D vdW) materials have attracted widespread research interest due to their unique physical properties and potential application prospects. In this study, an atomistic-level dynamical simulation method is employed to investigate the chirality of antiferromagnetic resonance modes in CrI3 bilayer. Beyond the typical observations of a linear increase in high-frequency resonance mode and a linear decrease in low-frequency resonance mode, we have identified a distinct magnetization precession chirality in the CrI3 bilayer at low magnetic fields: Spins in different layers exhibit opposite precession chirality. This unusual chirality phenomenon is attributed to the weak interlayer coupling inherent in vdW materials, which can be adjusted by tuning their interlayer coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These findings provide valuable insights into the intrinsic antiferromagnetic resonance characteristics of atomically thin vdW materials and their potential implications for the development of spintronic devices.
Chirality of antiferromagnetic spin waves as an intrinsic degree of freedom has been attracting considerable attention due to its potential applications for magnonic devices. In this paper, atomistic-scale dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the chirality of spin wave resonant modes in ferrimagnetic alloy GdxFe1−x (0 < x <1) under different proportion x and external magnetic fields near the angular momentum compensation point. Simulation results reveal that as the proportion of Gd increases, the resonance mode of spin waves undergoes two distinct handedness flipping at magnetization compensation point and angular momentum compensation point. When the proportion x deviates from the magnetization compensation point, a frequency degeneracy point emerges at a non-zero magnetic field, indicating that the chirality of spin waves can also be switched by an external magnetic field. A theoretical analysis is developed to explain the observed phenomena. These findings provide valuable insights into the control and manipulation of spin wave chirality in ferrimagnetic alloys, with potential implications for the development of spin-based devices and technologies.
Antiferromagnets exhibit ultrafast magnetization precession, which has the potential to enable the development of terahertz spin torque nano-oscillators. By utilizing perpendicularly magnetized magnetic nanopillars with a synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) free layer, we have demonstrated through theoretical and numerical analysis that stable out-of-plane precession states can be achieved by applying current and an electric field. In the case of small current, the two magnetic layers of the SAF are in antiparallel alignment and rotate around the z-axis with the precession frequency decreasing as the current strength increases. When the current-induced spin torque is strong enough to fully overcome the antiferromagnetic coupling, the SAF free layer is driven into a scissor-like precession state around the z-axis with the frequency increasing with current. By selecting the appropriate combination of the current and electric field, the magnetization precession orbits and precession frequencies can be adjusted. These controllable procession orbits with tunable frequencies and fixed magnetization precession amplitude may be a promising candidate for implementing binary frequency shift keying modulation techniques.
Magnons, recognized as the quanta of spin waves, offer a pathway for transmitting information without the need for electron motion, thus emerging as a leading candidate for the next generation of low-power electronics. Firstly, this study gives an overview by examining magnon modes possessing infinite wavelengths or zero wave numbers (known as ferromagnetic resonance) in classical ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and synthetic antiferromagnetic systems. It delves into the dynamics of magnetization, particularly focusing on magnetic moments precession and the corresponding dispersion relationships under two distinct acoustic and optic eigenmodes. Furthermore, it elaborates on a novel hybrid quantum system termed magnon-magnon coupling. The study elucidates the mechanism behind the robust coupling between acoustic and optic magnon modes. Finally, we briefly discuss the current challenges and future research directions in this field.
One key advantage of antiferromagnets over ferromagnets is the high magnetic resonance frequencies that enable ultrafast magnetization switching and oscillations. Among a variety of antiferromagnets, the synthetic antiferromagnet (SAF) is a promising candidate for high-speed spintronic devices design. In this paper, micromagnetic simulations are employed to study the resonance modes in an SAF structure consisting of two identical CoFeB ferromagnetic (FM) layers that are antiferromagnetically coupled via interlayer exchange coupling. When the external bias magnetic field is small enough to ensure the magnetizations of two FM sublayers remain antiparallel alignments, we find that there exist two resonance modes with different precession chirality, namelyy-component synchronized mode andz-component synchronized mode, respectively. These two resonance modes show different features from the conventional in-phase acoustic mode and out-of-phase optic mode. The simulation results are in good agreement with our theoretical analyses.
Magnons (the quanta of spin waves) could be used to encode information in beyond Moore computing applications. In this study, the magnon coupling between acoustic mode and optic mode in synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) is investigated by micromagnetic simulations. For a symmetrical SAF system, the time-evolution magnetizations of the two ferromagnetic layers oscillate in-phase at the acoustic mode and out-of-phase at the optic mode, showing an obvious crossing point in their antiferromagnetic resonance spectra. However, the symmetry breaking in an asymmetrical SAF system by the thickness difference, can induce an anti-crossing gap between the two frequency branches of resonance modes and thereby a strong magnon-magnon coupling appears between the resonance modes. The magnon coupling induced a hybridized resonance mode and its phase difference varies with the coupling strength. The maximum coupling occurs at the bias magnetic field at which the two ferromagnetic layers oscillate with a 90° phase difference. Besides, we show how the resonance modes in SAFs change from the in-phase state to the out-of-phase state by slightly tuning the magnon-magnon coupling strength. Our work provides a clear physical picture for the understanding of magnon-magnon coupling in a SAF system and may provide an opportunity to handle the magnon interaction in synthetic antiferromagnetic spintronics.
We present an overview in the understanding of spin-transfer torque (STT) induced magnetization dynamics in spin-torque nano-oscillator (STNO) devices. The STNO contains an in-plane (IP) magnetized free layer and an out-of-plane (OP) magnetized spin polarizing layer. After a brief introduction, we first use mesoscopic micromagnetic simulations, which are based on the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation including the STT effect, to specify how a spin-torque term may tune the magnetization precession orbits of the free layer, showing that the oscillator frequency is proportional to the current density and the z-component of the free layer magnetization. Next, we propose a pendulum-like model within the macrospin approximation to describe the dynamic properties in such type of STNOs. After that, we further show the procession dynamics of the STNOs excited by IP and OP dual spin-polarizers. Both the numerical simulations and analytical theory indicate that the precession frequency is linearly proportional to the spin-torque of the OP polarizer only and is irrelevant to the spin-torque of the IP polarizer. Finally, a promising approach of coordinate transformation from the laboratory frame to the rotation frame is introduced, by which the nonstationary OP magnetization precession process is therefore transformed into the stationary process in the rotation frame. Through this method, a promising digital frequency shift-key modulation technique is presented, in which the magnetization precession can be well controlled at a given orbit as well as its precession frequency can be tuned with the co-action of spin polarized current and magnetic field (or electric field) pulses.