arXiv subjects

Andrew D. Kent

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew D. Kent.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Stochastic magnetic actuated random transducer devices based on perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

True random number generators are of great interest in many computing applications such as cryptography, neuromorphic systems and Monte Carlo simulations. Here we investigate perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction nanopillars (pMTJs) activated by short duration (ns) pulses in the ballistic limit for such applications. In this limit, a pulse can transform the Boltzmann distribution of initial free layer magnetization states into randomly magnetized down or up states, i.e. a bit that is 0 or 1, easily determined by measurement of the junction's tunnel resistance. It is demonstrated that bitstreams with millions of events: 1) are very well described by the binomial distribution; 2) can be used to create a uniform distribution of 8-bit random numbers; 3) pass multiple statistical tests for true randomness, including all the National Institute of Standards tests for random number generators with only one XOR operation; and 4) can have no drift in the bit probability with time. The results presented here show that pMTJs operated in the ballistic regime can generate true random numbers at GHz bitrates, while being more robust to environmental changes, such as their operating temperature, compared to other stochastic nanomagnetic devices.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2022

Brillouin Light Scattering from Quantized Spin Waves in Nanowires with Antisymmetric Exchange Interactions

Antisymmetric exchange interactions lead to non-reciprocal spin-wave propagation. As a result, spin waves confined in a nanostructure are not standing waves; they have a time-dependent phase, because counter-propagating waves of the same frequency have different wavelengths. We report on a Brillouin light scattering (BLS) study of confined spin waves in Co/Pt nanowires with strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI). Spin-wave quantization in narrow ($\lesssim 200$ nm width) wires dramatically reduces the frequency shift between BLS Stokes and anti-Stokes lines associated with the scattering of light incident transverse to the nanowires. In contrast, the BLS frequency shift associated with the scattering of spin waves propagating along the nanowire length is independent of nanowire width. A model that considers the chiral nature of modes captures this physics and predicts a dramatic reduction in frequency shift of light scattered from higher energy spin waves in narrow wires, which is confirmed by our experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Exciton-Coupled Coherent Magnons in a 2D Semiconductor

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic semiconductors feature both tightly-bound excitons with large oscillator strength and potentially long-lived coherent magnons due to the presence of bandgap and spatial confinement. While magnons and excitons are energetically mismatched by orders of magnitude, their coupling can lead to efficient optical access to spin information. Here we report strong magnon-exciton coupling in the 2D van der Waals (vdW) antiferromagnetic (AFM) semiconductor CrSBr. Coherent magnons launched by above-gap excitation modulate the interlayer hybridization, which leads to dynamic modulation of excitonic energies. Time-resolved exciton sensing reveals magnons that can coherently travel beyond 7 micrometer, with coherence time above 5 ns. We observe this exciton-coupled coherent magnons in both even and odd number of layers, with and without compensated magnetization, down to the bilayer limit. Given the versatility of vdW heterostructures, these coherent 2D magnons may be basis for optically accessible magnonics and quantum interconnects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Quantum materials for energy-efficient neuromorphic computing

Neuromorphic computing approaches become increasingly important as we address future needs for efficiently processing massive amounts of data. The unique attributes of quantum materials can help address these needs by enabling new energy-efficient device concepts that implement neuromorphic ideas at the hardware level. In particular, strong correlations give rise to highly non-linear responses, such as conductive phase transitions that can be harnessed for short and long-term plasticity. Similarly, magnetization dynamics are strongly non-linear and can be utilized for data classification. This paper discusses select examples of these approaches, and provides a perspective for the current opportunities and challenges for assembling quantum-material-based devices for neuromorphic functionalities into larger emergent complex network systems.

cs.ET↗

arXiv2022

A Perspective on Electrical Generation of Spin Current for Magnetic Random Access Memories

Spin currents are used to write information in magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices by switching the magnetization direction of one of the ferromagnetic electrodes of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) nanopillar. Different physical mechanisms of conversion of charge current to spin current can be used in 2-terminal and 3-terminal device geometries. In 2-terminal devices, charge-to-spin conversion occurs by spin filtering in the MTJ's ferromagnetic electrodes and present day MRAM devices operate near the theoretically expected maximum charge-to-spin conversion efficiency. In 3-terminal devices, spin-orbit interactions in a channel material can also be used to generate large spin currents. In this perspective article, we discuss charge-to-spin conversion processes that can satisfy the requirements of MRAM technology. We emphasize the need to develop channel materials with larger charge-to-spin conversion efficiency -- that can equal or exceed that produced by spin filtering -- and spin currents with a spin polarization component perpendicular to the channel interface. This would enable high-performance devices based on sub-20 nm diameter perpendicularly magnetized MTJ nanopillars without need of a symmetry breaking field. We also discuss MRAM characteristics essential for CMOS integration. Finally, we identify critical research needs for charge-to-spin conversion measurements and metrics that can be used to optimize device channel materials and interface properties prior to full MTJ nanopillar device fabrication and characterization.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Third Harmonic Characterization of Antiferromagnetic Heterostructures

Electrical switching of antiferromagnets is an exciting recent development in spintronics, which promises active antiferromagnetic devices with high speed and low energy cost. In this emerging field, there is an active debate about the mechanisms of current-driven switching of antiferromagnets. Harmonic characterization is a powerful tool to quantify current-induced spin-orbit torques and spin Seebeck effect in heavy-metal/ferromagnet systems. However, the harmonic measurement technique has never been verified in antiferromagnetic heterostructures. Here, we report for the first time harmonic measurements in Pt/$α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ bilayers, which are explained by our modeling of higher-order harmonic voltages. As compared with ferromagnetic heterostructures where all current-induced effects appear in the second harmonic signals, the damping-like torque and thermally-induced magnetoelastic effect contributions in Pt/$α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ emerge in the third harmonic voltage. Our results provide a new path to probe the current-induced magnetization dynamics in antiferromagnets, promoting the application of antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Quantifying Spin-Orbit Torques in Antiferromagnet/Heavy Metal Heterostructures

The effect of spin currents on the magnetic order of insulating antiferromagnets (AFMs) is of fundamental interest and can enable new applications. Toward this goal, characterizing the spin-orbit torques (SOT) associated with AFM/heavy metal (HM) interfaces is important. Here we report the full angular dependence of the harmonic Hall voltages in a predominantly easy-plane AFM, epitaxial c-axis oriented $α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ films, with an interface to Pt. By modeling the harmonic Hall signals together with the $α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ magnetic parameters, we determine the amplitudes of field-like and damping-like SOT. Out-of-plane field scans are shown to be essential to determining the damping-like component of the torques. In contrast to ferromagnetic/heavy metal heterostructures, our results demonstrate that the field-like torques are significantly larger than the damping-like torques, which we correlate with the presence of a large imaginary component of the interface spin-mixing conductance. Our work demonstrates a direct way of characterizing SOT in AFM/HM heterostructures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Easy-plane spin Hall nano-oscillators as spiking neurons for neuromorphic computing

We show analytically using a macrospin approximation that easy-plane spin Hall nano-oscillators excited by a spin-current polarized perpendicularly to the easy-plane have phase dynamics analogous to that of Josephson junctions. Similarly to Josephson junctions, they can reproduce the spiking behavior of biological neurons that is appropriate for neuromorphic computing. We perform micromagnetic simulations of such oscillators realized in the nano-constriction geometry and show that the easy-plane spiking dynamics is preserved in an experimentally feasible architecture. Finally we simulate two elementary neural network blocks that implement operations essential for neuromorphic computing. First, we show that output spikes energies from two neurons can be summed and injected into a following layer neuron and second, we demonstrate that outputs can be multiplied by synaptic weights implemented by locally modifying the anisotropy.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2021

Large Exotic Spin Torques in Antiferromagnetic Iron Rhodium

Spin torque is a promising tool for driving magnetization dynamics for novel computing technologies. These torques can be easily produced by spin-orbit effects, but for most conventional spin source materials, a high degree of crystal symmetry limits the geometry of the spin torques produced. Magnetic ordering is one way to reduce the symmetry of a material and allow exotic torques, and antiferromagnets are particularly promising because they are robust against external fields. We present spin torque ferromagnetic resonance measurements and second harmonic Hall measurements characterizing the spin torques in antiferromagnetic iron rhodium alloy. We report extremely large, strongly temperature-dependent exotic spin torques with a geometry apparently defined by the magnetic ordering direction. We find the spin torque efficiency of iron rhodium to be (330$\pm$150) % at 170 K and (91$\pm$32) % at room temperature. We support our conclusions with theoretical calculations showing how the antiferromagnetic ordering in iron rhodium gives rise to such exotic torques.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Computing and Memory Technologies based on Magnetic Skyrmions

Solitonic magnetic excitations such as domain walls and, specifically, skyrmionics enable the possibility of compact, high density, ultrafast,all-electronic, low-energy devices, which is the basis for the emerging area of skyrmionics. The topological winding of skyrmion spins affects their overall lifetime, energetics and dynamical behavior. In this review, we discuss skyrmionics in the context of the present day solid state memory landscape, and show how their size, stability and mobility can be controlled by material engineering, as well as how they can be nucleated and detected. Ferrimagnetsnear their compensation points are important candidates for this application, leading to detailed exploration of amorphous CoGd as well as the study of emergent materials such as Mn$_4$N and Inverse Heusler alloys. Along with material properties, geometrical parameters such as film thickness, defect density and notches can be used to tune skyrmion properties, such as their size and stability. Topology, however, can be a double-edged sword, especially for isolated metastable skyrmions, as it brings stability at the cost of additional damping and deflective Magnus forces compared to domain walls. Skyrmion deformation in response to forces also makes them intrinsically slower than domain walls. We explore potential analog applications of skyrmions, including temporal memory at low density, and decorrelator for stochastic computing at a higher density that capitalizes on their interactions. We summarize the main challenges to achieve a skyrmionics technology, including maintaining positional stability with very high accuracy, electrical readout, especially for small ferrimagnetic skyrmions, deterministic nucleation and annihilation, and overall integration with digital circuits with the associated circuit overhead.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Tuning Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in Ferrimagnetic GdCo: A First Principles Approach

We present a systematic analysis of our ability to tune chiral Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interactions (DMI) in compensated ferrimagnetic Pt/GdCo/Pt1-xWx trilayers by cap layer composition. Using first principles calculations, we show that the DMI increases rapidly for only ~ 10% W and saturates thereafter, in agreement with experiments. The calculated DMI shows a spread in values around the experimental mean, depending on the atomic configuration of the cap layer interface. The saturation is attributed to the vanishing of spin orbit coupling energy at the cap layer and the simultaneous constancy at the bottom interface. Additionally, we predict the DMI in Pt/GdCo/X (X=Ta, W, Ir) and find that W in the cap layer favors a higher DMI than Ta and Ir that can be attributed to the difference in d-band alignment around the Fermi level. Our results open up exciting combinatorial possibilities for controlling the DMI in ferrimagnets towards nucleating and manipulating ultrasmall high-speed skyrmions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Direct Imaging of Electrical Switching of Antiferromagnetic Néel Order in $α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ Epitaxial Films

We report the direct observation of switching of the Néel vector of antiferromagnetic (AFM) domains in response to electrical pulses in micron-scale Pt/$α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ Hall bars using photoemission electron microscopy. Current pulses lead to reversible and repeatable switching, with the current direction determining the final state, consistent with Hall effect experiments that probe only the spatially averaged response. Current pulses also produce irreversible changes in domain structure, in and even outside the current path. In both cases only a fraction of the domains switch in response to pulses. Further, analysis of images taken with different x-ray polarizations shows that the AFM Néel order has an out-of-plane component in equilibrium that is important to consider in analyzing the switching data. These results show that -in addition to effects associated with spin-orbit torques from the Pt layer, which can produce reversible switching-changes in AFM order can be induced by purely thermal effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Precessional spin-torque dynamics in biaxial antiferromagnets

The Néel order of an antiferromagnet subject to a spin torque can undergo precession in a circular orbit about any chosen axis. To orient and stabilize the motion against the effects of magnetic anisotropy, the spin polarization should have components in-plane and normal to the plane of the orbit, where the latter must exceed a threshold. For biaxial antiferromagnets, the precessional motion is described by the equation for a damped-driven pendulum, which has hysteresis a function of the spin current with a critical value where the period diverges. The fundamental frequency of the motion varies inversely with the damping, and as $(x^p-1)^{1/p}$ with the drive-to-criticality ratio $x$ and the parameter $p>2$. An approximate closed-form result for the threshold spin current is presented, which depends on the minimum cutoff frequency the orbit can support. Precession about the hard axis has zero cutoff frequency and the lowest threshold, while the easy axis has the highest cutoff. A device setup is proposed for electrical control and detection of the dynamics, which is promising to demonstrate a tunable terahertz nano-oscillator.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Micromagnetic instabilities in spin-transfer switching of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

Micromagnetic instabilities and non-uniform magnetization states play a significant role in spin transfer induced switching of nanometer scale magnetic elements. Here we model domain wall mediated switching dynamics in perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction nanopillars. We show that domain wall surface tension always leads to magnetization oscillations and instabilities associated with the disk shape of the junction. A collective coordinate model is developed that captures aspects of these instabilities and illustrates their physical origin. Model results are compared to those of micromagnetic simulations. The switching dynamics is found to be very sensitive to the domain wall position and phase, which characterizes the angle of the magnetization in the disk plane. This sensitivity is reduced in the presence of spin torques and the spin current needed to displace a domain wall can be far less than the threshold current for switching from a uniformly magnetized state. A prediction of this model is conductance oscillations of increasing frequency during the switching process.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Thermal effects in spin torque switching of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions at cryogenic temperatures

Temperature plays an important role in spin torque switching of magnetic tunnel junctions causing magnetization fluctuations that decrease the switching voltage but also introduce switching errors. Here we present a systematic study of the temperature dependence of the spin torque switching probability of state-of-the-art perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction nanopillars (40 to 60 nm in diameter) from room temperature down to 4 K, sampling up to a million switching events. The junction temperature at the switching voltage---obtained from the thermally assisted spin torque switching model---saturates at temperatures below about 75 K, showing that junction heating is significant below this temperature and that spin torque switching remains highly stochastic down to 4 K. A model of heat flow in a nanopillar junction shows this effect is associated with the reduced thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the metals in the junction.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Magnetic Droplet Solitons

Magnetic droplet solitons are dynamical magnetic textures that form due to an attractive interaction between spin waves in thin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Spin currents and the spin torques associated with these currents enable their formation as they provide a means to excite non-equilibrium spin wave populations and compensate their decay. Recent years have seen rapid advances in experiments that realize and study magnetic droplets. Important advances include the first direct x-ray images of droplets, determination of their threshold and sustaining currents, measurement of their generation and annihilation time and evidence for drift instabilities, which can limit their lifetime in spin-transfer nanocontacts. This article reviews these studies and contrasts these solitons to other types of spin-current excitations such as spin-wave bullets, and static magnetic textures, including magnetic vortices and skyrmions. Magnetic droplet solitons can also serve as current controlled microwave frequency oscillators with potential applications in neuromorphic chips as nonlinear oscillators with memory.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Charge-to-spin conversion efficiency in ferromagnetic nanowires by spin torque ferromagnetic resonance: Reconciling lineshape and linewidth analysis methods

Spin orbit torques are of great interest for switching the magnetization direction in nanostructures, moving skyrmions and exciting spin waves. The standard method of determining their efficiency is by spin torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR), a technique that involves analyzing the resonance linewidth or lineshape. On microstuctures these two analysis methods are quite consistent. Here we present ST-FMR results on permalloy (Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$) nanowires -- with widths varying from $150$ to 800 nm -- that show that the standard model used to analyze the resonance linewidth and lineshape give different results; the efficiency appears greatly enhanced in nanowires when the lineshape method is used. A ST-FMR model that properly accounts for the sample shape is presented and shows much better consistency between the two methods. Micromagnetic simulations are used to verify the model. These results and the more accurate nanowire model presented are of importance for characterizing and optimizing charge-to-spin conversion efficiencies in nanostructures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Spin-torque switching mechanisms of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions nanopillars

Understanding the magnetization dynamics induced by spin transfer torques in perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction nanopillars and its dependence on material parameters is critical to optimizing device performance. Here we present a micromagnetic study of spin-torque switching in a disk-shaped element as a function of the free layer's exchange constant and disk diameter. The switching is shown to generally occur by 1) growth of the magnetization precession amplitude in the element center; 2) an instability in which the reversing region moves to the disk edge, forming a magnetic domain wall; and 3) the motion of the domain wall across the element. For large diameters and small exchange, step 1 leads to a droplet with a fully reversed core that experiences a drift instability (step 2). While in the opposite case (small diameters and large exchange), the central region of the disk is not fully reversed before step 2 occurs. The origin of the micromagnetic structure is shown to be the disk's non-uniform demagnetization field. Faster, more coherence and energy efficient switching occur with larger exchange and smaller disk diameters, showing routes to increase device performance.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗