Electrical Switching the Perpendicular Néel Order in a Collinear Antiferromagnet

Published

November 1, 2024

Author(s)

Wenqing He, Tianyi Zhang, Yongjian Zhou, Caihua Wan, Hao Wu, Baoshan Cui, Jihao Xia, Ran Zhang, Tengyu Guo, Peng Chen, Mingkun Zhao, Leina Jiang, Alexander Grutter, Purnima P. Balakrishnan, Andrew Caruana, Christy Kinane, Sean Langridge, Guoqiang Yu, Cheng Song, Xiufeng Han

Abstract

Spintronics is based on the electrical manipulation of magnetic order through current-induced spin torques. In collinear antiferromagnets with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, binary states can be directly encoded in their opposite Néel order. The negligible stray fields and terahertz spin dynamics of these systems mean that they could potentially be used to develop ultrafast memory devices with high integration density. Here we report electrical switching of the perpendicular Néel order in a collinear antiferromagnet. We show that the Néel order in a prototypical collinear antiferromagnetic insulator—chromium oxide (Cr2O3)—can be switched by the spin–orbit torque with a low current density (5.8 × 106 A cm−2) and read out by the anomalous Hall effect. We also show that the magnetization of a Y3Fe5O12 film exchange-coupled to the Cr2O3 layer can be electrically switched, confirming the Néel order switching of the Cr2O3 layer.

Citation

Nature Electronics

Volume

7

Issue

11

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01248-3

Local Download

Keywords

Magnetism, spintronics, antiferromagnet, neutron scattering, reflectometry

Citation

He, W. , Zhang, T. , Zhou, Y. , Wan, C. , Wu, H. , Cui, B. , Xia, J. , Zhang, R. , Guo, T. , Chen, P. , Zhao, M. , Jiang, L. , Grutter, A. , Balakrishnan, P. , Caruana, A. , Kinane, C. , Langridge, S. , Yu, G. , Song, C. and Han, X. (2024), Electrical Switching the Perpendicular Néel Order in a Collinear Antiferromagnet, Nature Electronics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01248-3, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=936439 (Accessed October 9, 2025)