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Achieving spin-pinning at the interface of hetero-bilayer ferromagnet/antiferromagnet structures in conventional exchange bias systems can be challenging due to difficulties in interface control and the weakening of spin-pinning caused by poor interface quality. In this work, we propose an alternative approach to stabilize the exchange interaction at the interface of an uncompensated antiferromagnet by utilizing a gradient of interlayer exchange coupling. We demonstrate this exchange interaction through a designed field training protocol in the odd-layer topological antiferromagnet MnBi₂Te₄. Our results reveal a remarkable field-trained exchange bias of up to ~ 400 mT, which exhibits high repeatability and can be easily reset by a large training field. Notably, this field-trained exchange bias effect persists even with zero-field initialization, presenting a stark contrast to the traditional field-cooled exchange bias. The highly tunable exchange bias observed in this single antiferromagnet compound, without the need for an additional magnetic layer, provides valuable insight into the exchange interaction mechanism. These findings pave the way for the systematic design of topological antiferromagnetic spintronics.

 

To enable the practical use of skyrmion-based devices, it is essential to achieve a balance between energy efficiency and thermal stability while also ensuring reliable electrical detection against noise. Understanding how a skyrmion interacts with material disorder and external perturbations is thus essential. Here, we investigate the electronic noise of a single skyrmion under the influence of thermal fluctuations and spin currents in a magnetic thin film. We detect the thermally induced noise with a 1/ f γ signature in the strong pinning regime but a random telegraph noise in the intermediate pinning regime. Both the thermally dominated and current induced telegraph like signals are detected in the weak pinning regime. Our results provide a comprehensive electronic noise picture of a single skyrmion, demonstrating the potential of noise fluctuation as a valuable tool for characterizing the pinning condition of a skyrmion. These insights could also aid in the development of low-noise and reliable skyrmion-based devices. 

Spin textures, such as magnetic domain walls and skyrmions, have the potential to revolutionize electronic devices by encoding information bits. Although recent advancements in ferromagnetic films have led to promising device prototypes, their widespread implementation has been hindered by material-related drawbacks. Antiferromagnetic spin textures, however, offer a solution to many of these limitations, paving the way for faster, smaller, more energy-efficient, and more robust electronics. The functionality of synthetic antiferromagnets, comprised of two or more magnetic layers separated by spacers, may be easily manipulated by making use of different materials as well as interface engineering. In this Perspective article, we examine the challenges and opportunities presented by spin textures in synthetic antiferromagnets and propose possible directions and prospects for future research in this burgeoning field. 

Mixed-space cluster expansion (MSCE), a first-principles method to simultaneously model the configuration-dependent short-ranged chemical and long-ranged strain interactions in alloy thermodynamics, has been successfully applied to binary FCC and BCC alloys. However, the previously reported MSCE method is limited to binary alloys with cubic crystal symmetry on a single sublattice. In the current work, MSCE is generalized to systems with multiple sublattices by formulating compatible reciprocal space interactions and combined with a crystal-symmetry-agnostic algorithm for the calculation of constituent strain energy. This generalized approach is then demonstrated in a hypothetical HCP system and Mg-Zn alloys. The current MSCE can significantly improve the accuracy of the energy parameterization and account for all the fully relaxed structures regardless of lattice distortion. The generalized MSCE method makes it possible to simultaneously analyze the short- and long-ranged configuration-dependent interactions in crystalline materials with arbitrary lattices with the accuracy of typical first-principles methods.