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X-ray Magnetic Linear Dichroism Studies of Electrical Switching of Antiferromagnetic Order in α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Epitaxial Films

ORAL

Abstract

Recently manipulation of antiferromagnetic (AFM) order has been gaining the attention of the spintronics community. Magnetic switching has been reported in AFM thin films based on electronic transport methods, which provide only spatially averaged information on AFM states. Other techniques, such as x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD), can provide local information on AFM domains. In this study, we report direct observation of spin reorientation in response to current pulses in (0001) α-Fe2O3/Pt heterostructures. Our experiment combines the application of current pulses and spatially resolved photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) with X-ray magnetic linear dichroism to detect antiferromagnetic contrast. Pulses were applied in two different configurations, and XMLD images were interleaved with current pulse sequences to reveal changes in the AFM domains. Our polarization dependent analysis reveals that Neel vector of our α-Fe2O3 films have an out-of-plane component in their equilibrium state, contrary to what previous work indicate. Finally, we show clear evidence of AFM domains reorientation outside of the current path, which leads us to the conclusion that spin-orbit torque may not be the only driven effect in the electrical switching process.

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Presenters

  • Egecan Cogulu

    Department of Physics, New York University

Authors

  • Egecan Cogulu

    Department of Physics, New York University

  • Nahuel Norberto Statuto

    Department of Physics, New York University

  • Yang Cheng

    Ohio State Univ - Columbus, Deparment of Physics, The Ohio State University, Physics, The Ohio State University, Department of Physics, Ohio State University

  • Sisheng Yu

    Department of Physics, Ohio State University

  • Fengyuan Yang

    Ohio State Univ - Columbus, Deparment of Physics, The Ohio State University, Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Physics, The Ohio State University, Department of Physics, Ohio State University, The Ohio State University, Physics, Ohio State University, Physics Department, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210

  • Rajesh V Chopdekar

    Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of California, Davis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  • Hendrik Ohldag

    Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

  • Andrew D Kent

    Center for Quantum Phenomena, Department of Physics, New York University, Department of Physics, New York University, Center for Quantum Phenomena, Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY, United States