Chirality from interfacial spin-orbit coupling effects in magnetic bilayers

Published

November 19, 2013

Author(s)

Kyoung-Whan Kim, Hyun-Woo Lee, Kyung Jin Lee, Mark D. Stiles

Abstract

Spin-orbit coupling causes many properties that make magnets technologically important as well as properties that interfere with optimal performance. As nanomagnetic devices scale to smaller sizes, spin-orbit coupling due to the broken structural inversion symmetry at interfaces becomes increasingly important. Here we use a minimal two-dimensional model of itinerant electrons near the interface to show that the interfacial spin-orbit coupling generates chiral effects such as the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, chiral spin torques, and spin-dependent chiral electromagnetic fields. All these effects are mutually correlated and are related through a curved space description. The latter reveals the frustration in magnetic ground state. In magnetic bilayers, these chiral effects lead to very efficient current-induced magnetization dynamics. Such effects may also be relevant for high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas at the interface between insulating oxides.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

111

Issue

21

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.21

Local Download

Keywords

Spintronics, magnetic dynamics, spin-orbit coupling, Rashba interaction, itinerant electrons, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, Chirality, magnetic bilayers

Citation

Kim, K. , Lee, H. , Lee, K. and Stiles, M. (2013), Chirality from interfacial spin-orbit coupling effects in magnetic bilayers, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.21, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=913998 (Accessed October 14, 2025)