Frontiers in all electrical control of magnetization by spin orbit torque

Shuai Hu; Xuepeng Qiu; Chang Pan; Wei Zhu; Yandong Guo; Ding-Fu Shao; Yumeng Yang; Delin Zhang; Yong Jiang

doi:10.1088/1361-648X/ad3270

Frontiers in all electrical control of magnetization by spin orbit torque

J Phys Condens Matter. 2024 Mar 27;36(25). doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ad3270.

Authors

Shuai Hu¹, Xuepeng Qiu², Chang Pan², Wei Zhu², Yandong Guo², Ding-Fu Shao³, Yumeng Yang^{4

5}, Delin Zhang¹, Yong Jiang¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Quantum Materials and Devices, School of Electronic and Information Engineering; State Key Laboratory of Separation Membrane and Membrane Processes, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, People's Republic of China.
² Shanghai Key Laboratory of Special Artificial Microstructure Materials and Technology and School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People's Republic of China.
³ Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, People's Republic of China.
⁴ School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy Efficient and Custom AI IC, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 38467073
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ad3270

Abstract

Achieving all electrical control of magnetism without assistance of an external magnetic field has been highly pursued for spintronic applications. In recent years, the manipulation of magnetic states through spin-orbit torque (SOT) has emerged as a promising avenue for realizing energy-efficient spintronic memory and logic devices. Here, we provide a review of the rapidly evolving research frontiers in all electrical control of magnetization by SOT. The first part introduces the SOT mechanisms and SOT devices with different configurations. In the second part, the developments in all electrical SOT control of magnetization enabled by spin current engineering are introduced, which include the approaches of lateral symmetry breaking, crystalline structure engineering of spin source material, antiferromagnetic order and interface-generated spin current. The third part introduces all electrical SOT switching enabled by magnetization engineering of the ferromagnet, such as the interface/interlayer exchange coupling and tuning of anisotropy or magnetization. At last, we provide a summary and future perspectives for all electrical control of magnetization by SOT.

Keywords: magnetism; spin orbit torque; spintronics.

Publication types

Review