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Interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) has been intensively investigated in magnetic multilayers, owing to its potential for magnetic memory and logic device applications. Although IEC can be reliably obtained in metallic ferromagnetic multilayer systems by adjusting structural parameters, it is difficult to achieve gate control of IEC in metallic systems due to their large carrier densities. Here, we demonstrate that IEC can be reliably controlled in ferromagnetic semiconductor (FMS) trilayer structures by means of an external gate voltage. We show that, by designing a quantum-well-type trilayer structure based on (Ga,Mn)(As,P) FMSs and adapting the ionic liquid gating technique, the carrier density in the nonmagnetic spacer of the system can be modulated with gate voltages of only a few volts. Due to this capability, we are able to vary the strength of IEC by as much as 49% in the FMS trilayer. These results provide important insights into design of spintronic devices and their energy-efficient operation. 

We report the observation of current induced spin–orbit torque (SOT) switching of magnetization in a (Ga,Mn)(As,P) film using perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Complete SOT switching of magnetization was achieved with current densities as low as 7.4 × 105 A/cm2, which is one to two orders of magnitude smaller than that normally used for SOT switching in ferromagnet/heavy metal bilayer systems. The observed magnetization switching chirality during current scans is consistent with SOT arising from spin polarization caused by the Dresselhaus-type spin–orbit-induced (SOI) fields. The magnitudes of effective SOI fields corresponding to the SOT were obtained from shifts of switching angles in angular dependent Hall measurements observed for opposite current polarities. By measuring effective SOI fields for the [11̄0] and the [110] current directions, we were then able to separate the values of the Dresselhaus-type (HeffD) and Rashba (HeffR) SOI fields. At a current density of 6.0 × 105 A/cm2, these values are HeffD=6.73Oe and HeffR=1.31Oe, respectively. The observed ratio of about 5:1 between Dresselhaus-type and Rashba SOI fields is similar to that observed in a GaMnAs film with an in-plane magnetic anisotropy.