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1. Composite Spin Hall Conductivity from Non‐Collinear Antiferromagnetic Order

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202209866  

   Novakov, Steve ; Meisenheimer, Peter B. ; Pan, Grace A. ; Kezer, Patrick ; Vu, Nguyen M. ; Grutter, Alexander J. ; Need, Ryan F. ; Mundy, Julia A. ; Heron, John T. ( June 2023 , Advanced Materials)

   Non‐collinear antiferromagnets (AFMs) are an exciting new platform for studying intrinsic spin Hall effects (SHEs), phenomena that arise from the materials’ band structure, Berry phase curvature, and linear response to an external electric field. In contrast to conventional SHE materials, symmetry analysis of non‐collinear antiferromagnets does not forbid non‐zero longitudinal and out‐of‐plane spin currents with polarization and predicts an anisotropy with current orientation to the magnetic lattice. Here, multi‐component out‐of‐plane spin Hall conductivities are reported in L1₂‐ordered antiferromagnetic PtMn₃thin films that are uniquely generated in the non‐collinear state. The maximum spin torque efficiencies (ξ  =J_S /J_e ≈ 0.3) are significantly larger than in Pt (ξ  ≈  0.1). Additionally, the spin Hall conductivities in the non‐collinear state exhibit the predicted orientation‐dependent anisotropy, opening the possibility for new devices with selectable spin polarization. This work demonstrates symmetry control through the magnetic lattice as a pathway to tailored functionality in magnetoelectronic systems.

    

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2. Coherent helicity-dependent spin-phonon oscillations in the ferromagnetic van der Waals crystal CrI3

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31786-3  

   Padmanabhan, P. ; Buessen, F. L. ; Tutchton, R. ; Kwock, K. W. C. ; Gilinsky, S. ; Lee, M. C. ; McGuire, M. A. ; Singamaneni, S. R. ; Yarotski, D. A. ; Paramekanti, A. ; et al ( August 2022 , Nature Communications)

   The discovery of two-dimensional systems hosting intrinsic magnetic order represents a seminal addition to the rich landscape of van der Waals materials. CrI₃is an archetypal example, where the interdependence of structure and magnetism, along with strong light-matter interactions, provides a new platform to explore the optical control of magnetic and vibrational degrees of freedom at the nanoscale. However, the nature of magneto-structural coupling on its intrinsic ultrafast timescale remains a crucial open question. Here, we probe magnetic and vibrational dynamics in bulk CrI₃using ultrafast optical spectroscopy, revealing spin-flip scattering-driven demagnetization and strong transient exchange-mediated interactions between lattice vibrations and spin oscillations. The latter yields a coherent spin-coupled phonon mode that is highly sensitive to the driving pulse’s helicity in the magnetically ordered phase. Our results elucidate the nature of ultrafast spin-lattice coupling in CrI₃and highlight its potential for applications requiring high-speed control of magnetism at the nanoscale.

    

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3. Uncovering spin-orbit coupling-independent hidden spin polarization of energy bands in antiferromagnets

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40877-8  

   Yuan, Lin-Ding ; Zhang, Xiuwen ; Acosta, Carlos Mera ; Zunger, Alex ( August 2023 , Nature Communications)

   Many textbook physical effects in crystals are enabled by some specific symmetries. In contrast to such ‘apparent effects’, ‘hidden effect X’ refers to the general condition where the nominal global system symmetry would disallow the effect X, whereas the symmetry of local sectors within the crystal would enable effect X. Known examples include the hidden Rashba and/or hidden Dresselhaus spin polarization that require spin-orbit coupling, but unlike their apparent counterparts are demonstrated to exist in non-magnetic systems even in inversion-symmetric crystals. Here, we discuss hidden spin polarization effect in collinear antiferromagnets without the requirement for spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Symmetry analysis suggests that antiferromagnets hosting such effect can be classified into six types depending on the global vs local symmetry. We identify which of the possible collinear antiferromagnetic compounds will harbor such hidden polarization and validate these symmetry enabling predictions with first-principles density functional calculations for several representative compounds. This will boost the theoretical and experimental efforts in finding new spin-polarized materials.

    

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4. Spin-orbit torque switching of chiral magnetization across a synthetic antiferromagnet

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-00513-z  

   Wang, Kang ; Qian, Lijuan ; Ying, See-Chen ; Xiao, Gang ( January 2021 , Communications Physics)

   The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) holds promises for design and control of chiral spin textures in low-dimensional magnets with efficient current-driven dynamics. Recently, an interlayer DMI has been found to exist across magnetic multilayers with a heavy-metal spacer between magnetic layers. This opens the possibility of chirality in these three-dimensional magnetic structures. Here we show the existence of the interlayer DMI in a synthetic antiferromagnetic multilayer with both inversion and in-plane asymmetry. We analyse the interlayer DMI’s effects on the magnetization and the current-induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) switching of magnetization through a combination of experimental and numerical studies. The chiral nature of the interlayer DMI leads to an asymmetric SOT switching of magnetization under an in-plane magnetic field. Our work paves the way for further explorations on controlling chiral magnetizations across magnetic multilayers through SOTs, which can provide a new path in the design of SOT devices.

    

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5. Multiple magnetic droplet solitions from exotic spin–orbit torques

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0099491  

   Klause, Robin ; Hoffmann, Axel ( June 2022 , Applied Physics Letters)

   Materials with large spin–orbit interactions generate pure spin currents with spin polarizations parallel to the interfacial surfaces that give rise to conventional spin–orbit torques. These spin–orbit torques can only efficiently and deterministically switch magnets with in-plane magnetization. Additional symmetry breaking, such as in non-collinear antiferromagnets, can generate exotic, unconventional spin–orbit torques that are associated with spin polarizations perpendicular to the interfacial planes. Here, we use micromagnetic simulations to investigate whether such exotic spin–orbit torques can generate magnetic droplet solitions in out-of-plane magnetized geometries. We show that a short, high current pulse followed by a lower constant current can nucleate and stabilize magnetic droplets. Through specific current pulse lengths, it is possible to control the number of droplets in such a system, since torques are generated over a large area. Additionally, the nucleation current scales with the out-of-plane component of the spin polarization and is linear as a function of magnetic field strength. 

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