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arXiv · 1803.05545

Synthetic antiferromagnetic coupling between ultra-thin insulating garnets

Juan M. Gomez-Perez·Saül Vélez·Lauren McKenzie-Sell·Mario Amado·Javier Herrero-Martín·Josu López-López·S. Blanco-Canosa·Luis E. Hueso·Andrey Chuvilin·Jason W. A. Robinson·Fèlix Casanova
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Abstract

The use of magnetic insulators is attracting a lot of interest due to a rich variety of spin-dependent phenomena with potential applications to spintronic devices. Here we report ultra-thin yttrium iron garnet (YIG) / gadolinium iron garnet (GdIG) insulating bilayers on gadolinium iron garnet (GGG). From spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements, we show that the YIG and GdIG magnetically couple antiparallel even in moderate in-plane magnetic fields. The results demonstrate an all-insulating equivalent of a synthetic antiferromagnet in a garnet-based thin film heterostructure and could open new venues for insulators in magnetic devices. As an example, we demonstrate a memory element with orthogonal magnetization switching that can be read by SMR.

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Juan M. Gomez-Perez, Saül Vélez, Lauren McKenzie-Sell, Mario Amado, Javier Herrero-Martín, Josu López-López, S. Blanco-Canosa, Luis E. Hueso, Andrey Chuvilin, Jason W. A. Robinson, Fèlix Casanova. 2018-03-15. Synthetic antiferromagnetic coupling between ultra-thin insulating garnets. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.10.044046

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