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Byoung-Chul Min

Publications and source records attributed to Byoung-Chul Min.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Emergence of Giant Magnetic Chirality during Dimensionality Crossover of Magnetic Materials

Chirality, an intrinsic preference for a specific handedness, is a fundamental characteristic observed in nature. In magnetism, magnetic chirality arises from the anti-symmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in competition with the symmetric Heisenberg exchange interaction. Traditionally, the anti-symmetric interaction has been considered minor relative to the symmetric interaction. In this study, we demonstrate an observation of giant magnetic chirality during the dimensionality crossover of magnetic materials from three-dimensional to two-dimensional. The ratio between the anti-symmetric and symmetric interactions exhibits a reversal in their dominance over this crossover, overturning the traditional consideration. This observation is validated theoretically using a non-local interaction model and tight-binding calculation with distinct pairing schemes for each exchange interaction throughout the crossover. Additional experiments investigating the asphericity of orbital moments corroborate the robustness of our findings. Our findings highlight the critical role of dimensionality in shaping magnetic chirality and offer strategies for engineering chiral magnet states with unprecedented strength, desired for the design of spintronic materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Observation of the orbital Hall effect in a light metal Ti

The orbital angular momentum is a core ingredient of orbital magnetism, spin Hall effect, giant Rashba spin splitting, orbital Edelstein effect, and spin-orbit torque. However, its experimental detection is tricky. In particular, direct detection of the orbital Hall effect remains elusive despite its importance for electrical control of magnetic nanodevices. Here we report the direct observation of the orbital Hall effect in a light metal Ti. The Kerr rotation by the accumulated orbital magnetic moment is measured at Ti surfaces, whose result agrees with theoretical calculations semiquantitatively and is supported by the orbital torque measurement in Ti-based magnetic heterostructures. The results confirm the electron orbital angular momentum as an essential dynamic degree of freedom, which may provide a novel mechanism for the electric control of magnetism. The results may also deepen the understanding of spin, valley, phonon, and magnon dynamics coupled with orbital dynamics.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Influences of interfacial oxidization on surface magnetic energy, magnetic damping and spin-orbit-torques in Pt / ferromagnet / capping structures

We investigate the effect of capping layer (CAP) on the interfacial magnetic anisotropy energy density (K_S), magnetic damping (α), and spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in heavy-metal (Pt) / ferromagnet (Co or Py) / CAP (MgO/Ta, HfOx, or TaN). At room temperature (RT) the CAP materials influence the effective magnitude of K_S, which is associated with a formation of interfacial magnetic oxides. The dynamical dissipation parameters of Co are considerably influenced by the CAP (especially MgO) while those of Py are not. This is possibly due to an extra magnetic damping via spin-pumping process across the Co/CoO interface and incoherent magnon generation (spin fluctuation) in the interfacial CoO. It is also observed that both anti-damping and field-like SOT efficiencies vary marginally with the CAP in the thickness ranges we examined. Our results reveal the crucial role of interfacial oxides on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, magnetic damping, and SOTs.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Quantitative agreement of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions for domain-wall motion and spin-wave propagation

The magnetic exchange interaction is the one of the key factors governing the basic characteristics of magnetic systems. Unlike the symmetric nature of the Heisenberg exchange interaction, the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) generates an antisymmetric exchange interaction which offers challenging opportunities in spintronics with intriguing antisymmetric phenomena. The role of the DMI, however, is still being debated, largely because distinct strengths of DMI have been measured for different magnetic objects, particularly chiral magnetic domain walls (DWs) and non-reciprocal spin waves (SWs). In this paper, we show that, after careful data analysis, both the DWs and SWs experience the same strength of DMI. This was confirmed by spin-torque efficiency measurement for the DWs, and Brillouin light scattering measurement for the SWs. This observation, therefore, indicates the unique role of the DMI on the magnetic DW and SW dynamics and also guarantees the compatibility of several DMI-measurement schemes recently proposed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Spin-orbit-torque and magnetic damping in tailored ferromagnetic bilayers

We study spin-orbit-torque-driven ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) in ferromagnetic (FM) bilayers, consisting of Co and permalloy (Py), sandwiched between Pt and MgO layers. We find that the FM layer in contact with the Pt layers dominantly determines that spin Hall angle, which is consistent with the spin-transparency model. By contrast, the FMR linewidths are considerably influenced not only by the spin-pumping effect across the Pt|FM in terface but also by the spin relaxation such as two-magnon scattering at the FMMgO interface.The CoMgO interface leads to notably increased FMR linewidths, while the Py|MgO interface has less effect. This different contribution of each interface to the spin Hall angel and dissipation parameter suggests that the stack configuration of Pt|Co|Py|MgO requires less writing energy than Pt|Py|Co|MgO in spin-orbit-torque-driven magnetic switching. Our approach offers a promising method to optimize material parameters by engineering either interfaces in contact with the heavy-metal or the oxide layer.

physics.app-ph

Deterministic creation and deletion of a single magnetic skyrmion observed by direct time-resolved X-ray microscopy

Spintronic devices based on magnetic skyrmions are a promising candidate for next-generation memory applications due to their nanometre-size, topologically-protected stability and efficient current-driven dynamics. Since the recent discovery of room-temperature magnetic skyrmions, there have been reports of current-driven skyrmion displacement on magnetic tracks and demonstrations of current pulse-driven skyrmion generation. However, the controlled annihilation of a single skyrmion at room temperature has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate the deterministic writing and deleting of single isolated skyrmions at room temperature in ferrimagnetic GdFeCo films with a device-compatible stripline geometry. The process is driven by the application of current pulses, which induce spin-orbit torques, and is directly observed using a time resolved nanoscale X-ray imaging technique. We provide a current-pulse profile for the efficient and deterministic writing and deleting process. Using micromagnetic simulations, we also reveal the microscopic mechanism of the topological fluctuations that occur during this process.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Current-driven dynamics and inhibition of the skyrmion Hall effect of ferrimagnetic skyrmions in GdFeCo films

Magnetic skyrmions are swirling magnetic textures with novel characteristics suitable for future spintronic and topological applications. Recent studies confirmed the room-temperature stabilization of skyrmions in ultrathin ferromagnets. However, such ferromagnetic skyrmions show undesirable topological effect, the skyrmion Hall effect, which leads to their current-driven motion towards device edges, where skyrmions could easily be annihilated by topographic defects. Recent theoretical studies have predicted enhanced current-driven behaviour for antiferromagnetically exchange-coupled skyrmions. Here we present the stabilization of these skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ferrimagnetic GdFeCo films. By utilizing element-specific X-ray imaging, we find that the skyrmions in the Gd and FeCo sublayers are antiferromagnetically exchange-coupled. We further confirm that ferrimagnetic skyrmions can move at a velocity of ~50 m s-1 with reduced skyrmion Hall angle, θSkHE ~20°. Our findings open the door to ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic skyrmionics while providing key experimental evidences of recent theoretical studies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Empirical correlation between the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction and work function in metallic magnetic trilayers

The Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI) generates intriguing chiral magnetic objects such as magnetic skyrmions and chiral domain walls that can be used as building blocks in emerging magnetic nanodevices. To achieve better stability and functionality of these chiral objects, it is essential to achieve a larger DMI. In this paper, we report an experimental observation that in magnetic trilayer films, the DMI strength is mainly determined by the work functions of the nonmagnetic layers interfaced with the magnetic layer. The clear correlation with the intrinsic material parameters provides a guideline for material selection to engineer the DMI strength.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Magnetic Domain-Wall Tilting due to Domain-Wall Speed Asymmetry

Chiral magnetic materials provide a number of challenging issues such as the highly efficient domain wall (DW) and skyrmion motions driven by electric current, as of the operation principles of emerging spintronic devices. The DWs in the chiral materials exhibit asymmetric DW speed variation under application of in plane magnetic field. Here, we show that such DW speed asymmetry causes the DW tilting during the motion along wire structure. It has been known that the DW tilting can be induced by the direct Zeeman interaction of the DW magnetization under application of in plane magnetic field. However, our experimental observations manifests that there exists another dominant process with the DW speed asymmetry caused by either the Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI) or the chirality dependent DW speed variation. A theoretical model based on the DW geometry reveals that the DW tilting is initiated by the DW pinning at wire edges and then, the direction of the DW tilting is determined by the DW speed asymmetry, as confirmed by a numerical simulation. The present observation reveals the decisive role of the DW pinning with the DW speed asymmetry, which determines the DW geometry and consequently, the dynamics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Spin-orbit torque-driven skyrmion dynamics revealed by time-resolved X-ray microscopy

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically-protected spin textures with attractive properties suitable for high-density and low-power spintronic device applications. Much effort has been dedicated to understanding the dynamical behaviours of the magnetic skyrmions. However, experimental observation of the ultrafast dynamics of this chiral magnetic texture in real space, which is the hallmark of its quasiparticle nature, has so far remained elusive. Here, we report nanosecond-dynamics of a 100 nm-size magnetic skyrmion during a current pulse application, using a time-resolved pump-probe soft X-ray imaging technique. We demonstrate that distinct dynamic excitation states of magnetic skyrmions, triggered by current-induced spin-orbit torques, can be reliably tuned by changing the magnitude of spin-orbit torques. Our findings show that the dynamics of magnetic skyrmions can be controlled by the spin-orbit torque on the nanosecond time scale, which points to exciting opportunities for ultrafast and novel skyrmionic applications in the future.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Chirality-induced Antisymmetry in Magnetic Domain-Wall Speed

In chiral magnetic materials, numerous intriguing phenomena such as built in chiral magnetic domain walls (DWs) and skyrmions are generated by the Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI). The DMI also results in asymmetric DW speed under in plane magnetic field, which provides a useful scheme to measure the DMI strengths. However, recent findings of additional asymmetries such as chiral damping have disenabled unambiguous DMI determination and the underlying mechanism of overall asymmetries becomes under debate. By extracting the DMI-induced symmetric contribution, here we experimentally investigated the nature of the additional asymmetry. The results revealed that the additional asymmetry has a truly antisymmetric nature with the typical behavior governed by the DW chirality. In addition, the antisymmetric contribution changes the DW speed more than 100 times, which cannot be solely explained by the chiral damping scenario. By calibrating such antisymmetric contributions, experimental inaccuracies can be largely removed, enabling again the DMI measurement scheme.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Drastic emergence of huge negative spin-transfer torque in atomically thin Co layers

Current-induced domain wall (DW) motion has drawn great attention in the last decades as the key operational principle of emerging magnetic memory devices. As the major driving force of the current-induced DW motion, the spin-orbit torque (SOT) on chiral DWs has been proposed and extensively studied nowadays. However, we demonstrate here that there exists another driving force, which is larger than the SOT in ultra-thin Co films. Moreover, the direction of the present force is found to be opposite to the prediction of the spin-transfer torque (STT), resulting in the DW motion along the current direction. The symmetry of the force and its peculiar dependence on the DW structure suggest that the present force is, most likely, attributed to considerable enhancement of the nonadiabatic STT with a negative spin polarization in atomically thin Co layers. These findings open a new pathway to enhance the overall spin torque efficiency-the critical parameter in emerging spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Angle-dependence and optimal design for magnetic bubblecade with maximum speed

Unidirectional magnetic domain-wall motion is a key concept underlying next-generation application devices. Such motion has been recently demonstrated by applying an alternating magnetic field, resulting in the coherent unidirectional motion of magnetic bubbles. Here we report the optimal configuration of applied magnetic field for the magnetic bubblecade, the coherent unidirectional motion of magnetic bubbles, driven by a tilted alternating magnetic field. The tilted alternating magnetic field induces asymmetric expansion and shrinkage of the magnetic bubbles under the influence of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, resulting in continuous shift of the bubbles in time. By realizing the magnetic bubblecade in PtCoPt films, we find that the bubblecade speed is sensitive to the tilt angle with a maximum at an angle, which can be explained well by a simple analytical form within the context of the domain-wall creep theory. A simplified analytic formula for the angle for maximum speed is then given as a function of the amplitude of the alternating magnetic field. The present observation provides a practical design rule for memory and logic devices based on the magnetic bubblecade.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Wide-Range Probing of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in magnetic objects is of enormous interest, because it generates a built-in chirality of magnetic domain walls (DWs) and topologically-protected skyrmions for efficient motion driven by spin-orbit torques. Because of its importance for perspective applications and academic curiosities, many experimental efforts have been devoted to DMI investigation. However, current experimental probing techniques cover only limited ranges of the DMI with specific sample requirements, and there are no versatile techniques covering a wide range of DMI. Here, we present a unique experimental scheme to quantify DMI over a wide range based on the angular dependence of asymmetric DW motion. It can determine DMI even larger than the maximum magnetic field strength, demonstrating that various strengths of DMI can be quantified using a single measurement setup. This scheme provides a standard technique over a wide range of DMI, which is essential to DMI-related emerging fields in nanotechnology.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Universality of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction effect over domain-wall creep and flow regimes

Chirality causes diverse phenomena in nature such as the formation of biological molecules, antimatters, non-collinear spin structures, and magnetic skyrmions. The chirality in magnetic materials is often caused by the noncollinear exchange interaction, called the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). The DMI produces topological spin alignments such as the magnetic skyrmions and chiral domain walls (DWs). In the chiral DWs, the DMI generates an effective magnetic field $H_{DMI}$, resulting in a peculiar DW speed variation in the DW creep regime. However, the role of $H_{DMI}$ over the different DW-dynamics regimes remains elusive, particularly due to recent observation of distinct behaviors between the creep and flow regimes. We hereby demonstrate experimentally that the role of $H_{DMI}$ is invariant over the creep and flow regimes. In the experiments, the pure DMI effect is quantified by decomposing the symmetric and antisymmetric contributions of the DW motion. The results manifest that the antisymmetric contribution vanishes gradually across the creep and flow regimes, revealing that the symmetric contribution from $H_{DMI}$ is unchanged. Though the DW dynamics is governed by distinct mechanisms, the present observation demonstrates the uniqueness of the DMI effect on the DWs over the creep and flow regimes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Magnetic Bubblecade Memory

Unidirectional motion of magnetic domain walls is the key concept underlying next-generation domain-wall-mediated memory and logic devices. Such motion has been achieved either by injecting large electric currents into nanowires or by employing domain-wall tension induced by sophisticated structural modulation. Herein, we demonstrate a new scheme without any current injection or structural modulation. This scheme utilizes the recently discovered chiral domain walls, which exhibit asymmetry in their speed with respect to magnetic fields. Because of this asymmetry, an alternating magnetic field results in the coherent motion of the domain walls in one direction. Such coherent unidirectional motion is achieved even for an array of magnetic bubble domains, enabling the design of a new device prototype-magnetic bubblecade memory-with two-dimensional data-storage capability.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Thermally activated switching of perpendicular magnet by spin-orbit spin torque

We theoretically investigate the threshold current for thermally activated switching of a perpendicular magnet by spin-orbit spin torque. Based on the Fokker-Planck equation, we obtain an analytic expression of the switching current, in agreement with numerical result. We find that thermal energy barrier exhibits a quasi-linear dependence on the current, resulting in an almost linear dependence of switching current on the log-scaled current pulse-width even below 10 ns. This is in stark contrast to standard spin torque switching, where thermal energy barrier has a quadratic dependence on the current and the switching current rapidly increases at short pulses. Our results will serve as a guideline to design and interpret switching experiments based on spin-orbit spin torque

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Thermal spin injection and accumulation in CoFe/MgO tunnel contacts to n-type Si through Seebeck spin tunneling

We report the thermal spin injection and accumulation in crystalline CoFe/MgO tunnel contacts to n-type Si through Seebeck spin tunneling (SST). With the Joule heating (laser heating) of Si (CoFe), the thermally induced spin accumulation is detected by means of the Hanle effect for both polarities of the temperature gradient across the tunnel contact. The magnitude of the thermal spin signal scales linearly with the heating power and its sign is reversed as we invert the temperature gradient, demonstrating the major features of SST and thermal spin accumulation. We observe that, for the Si (CoFe) heating, the thermal spin signal induced by SST corresponds to the majority (minority) spin accumulation in the Si. Based on a quantitative comparison of thermal and electrical spin signals, it is noted that the thermal spin injection through SST can be a viable approach for the efficient injection of spin accumulation

cond-mat.mes-hall