arXiv subjects

Can Onur Avci

Publications and source records attributed to Can Onur Avci.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Giant nonlinear Hall effect in a Pt/ferrimagnetic insulator bilayer under Zeeman-exchange frustration

Competing magnetic interactions can create metastable or unstable states and render magnetic systems highly susceptible to external perturbations. Here we show that Zeeman-exchange frustration in an Al-substituted terbium iron garnet with a compositional gradient across its thickness gives rise to a giant nonlinear Hall response in an adjacent Pt layer. Near magnetic compensation, a field-induced spin-flip transition is accompanied by unusually large higher-order odd harmonic voltages, with the third, fifth, and seventh harmonics reaching amplitudes comparable to that of the first harmonic. The field, temperature, and current dependences collectively identify Joule heating as the parametric drive of the harmonic response. Macrospin-chain simulations further show that current-induced thermal modulation periodically switches the interfacial Fe magnetization between exchange- and Zeeman-dominated states and reproduces the observed harmonic signals. These results demonstrate how frustration can convert a weak thermal perturbation into a large nonlinear electrical response, providing a route to nonlinear magnetotransport in compensated ferrimagnets.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Optimization of Epitaxial Mn4N Thin Films Grown by Sputtering for Spintronic Applications

Ferrimagnetic Mn4N has recently emerged as a promising rare-earth-free platform for spintronic devices due to its low magnetization, high domain wall mobility, and strong anomalous Hall response. However, the realization of thin films with robust perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and spin-orbit torque (SOT) functionality through scalable deposition techniques remains a significant challenge. In this work, we systematically investigate the growth of Mn4N thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering and determine the conditions required to achieve high-quality films suitable for SOT applications. We demonstrate that epitaxial, single-crystalline Mn4N films with strong PMA can be obtained on MgO(100), whereas films deposited on SrTiO3(100) exhibit a textured structure. The optimized films show square-shaped hysteresis loops with high remanence, large and tunable coercivity, and a pronounced anomalous Hall effect. By combining structural, magnetic, and magnetotransport characterization with density functional theory calculations, we reveal that epitaxial strain plays a key role in tuning magnetic anisotropy, while also showing that it is not the only contributing factor. In particular, our results emphasize the importance of interfacial effects in stabilizing PMA. Finally, we demonstrate efficient current-induced magnetization switching in Mn4N/Pt bilayers, confirming strong interfacial spin transparency. These findings establish sputtered Mn4N as a promising and versatile material platform for energy-efficient spin-orbitronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Magnetotransport signatures of spin-orbit coupling in high-temperature cuprate superconductors

Spin transport in superconductors offers a compelling platform to merge the dissipationless nature of superconductivity with the functional promise of spin-based electronics. A significant challenge in achieving spin polarisation in conventional superconductors stems from the singlet state of Cooper pairs, which exhibit no net spin. The generation of spin-polarised carriers, quasiparticles, or triplet pairs in superconductors has predominantly been realised in hybrid superconductor/ferromagnet systems through proximity-induced spin polarisation. Historically, cuprate superconductors have been characterised by strong electronic correlations but negligible spin-orbit coupling. Here, we report exceptionally large anisotropic magnetoresistance and a pronounced planar Hall effect arising near the superconducting phase transition in the prototypical high-temperature cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-x without using a proximity ferromagnet. These effects, unprecedented in centrosymmetric cuprates, emerge from spin-polarised quasiparticle transport mediated by strong spin-orbit coupling. By systematically tuning magnetic field strength, orientation, temperature, and doping, we show clear evidence of spin-orbit-driven transport phenomena in a material class long thought to lack such interactions. Our findings reveal an unexpected spin-orbit landscape in cuprates and open a route to engineer spintronic functionalities in high-temperature superconductors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Leveraging symmetry for an accurate spin-orbit torques characterization in ferrimagnetic insulators

Spin-orbit torques (SOTs) have emerged as an efficient means to electrically control the magnetization in ferromagnetic heterostructures. Lately, an increasing attention has been devoted to SOTs in heavy metal (HM)/magnetic insulator (MI) bilayers owing to their tunable magnetic properties and insulating nature. Quantitative characterization of SOTs in HM/MI heterostructures are, thus, vital for fundamental understanding of charge-spin interrelations and designing novel devices. However, the accurate determination of SOTs in MIs have been limited so far due to small electrical signal outputs and dominant spurious thermoelectric effects caused by Joule heating. Here, we report a simple methodology based on harmonic Hall voltage detection and macrospin simulations to accurately quantify the damping-like and field-like SOTs, and thermoelectric contributions separately in MI-based systems. Experiments on the archetypical Bi-doped YIG/Pt heterostructure using the developed method yield precise values for the field-like and damping-like SOTs, reaching -0.14 and -0.15 mT per 1.7x$10^{ 11}$ A/$m^2$, respectively. We further reveal that current-induced Joule heating changes the spin transparency at the interface, reducing the spin Hall magnetoresistance and damping-like SOT, simultaneously. These results and the devised method can be beneficial for fundamental understanding of SOTs in MI-based heterostructures and designing new devices where accurate knowledge of SOTs is necessary.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Sputtered terbium iron garnet films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy for spintronic applications

We report the structural, magnetic, and interfacial spin transport properties of epitaxial terbium iron garnet (TbIG) ultrathin films deposited by magnetron sputtering. High crystallinity was achieved by growing the films on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrates either at high temperature, or at room temperature followed by thermal annealing, above 750 °C in both cases. The films display large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) induced by compressive strain, and tunable structural and magnetic properties through growth conditions or the substrate lattice parameter choice. The ferrimagnetic compensation temperature (TM) of selected TbIG films was measured through temperature-dependent anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in Pt/TbIG heterostructures. In the studied films, TM was found to be between 190-225 K, i.e., approximately 25-60 K lower than the bulk value, which is attributed to the combined action of Tb deficiency and oxygen vacancies in the garnet lattice evidenced by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. Sputtered TbIG ultrathin films with large PMA and highly tunable properties reported here can provide a suitable material platform for a wide range of spintronic experiments and device applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Engineering the spin-orbit torque efficiency and magnetic properties of Tb/Co ferrimagnetic multilayers by stacking order

We measured the spin-orbit torques (SOTs), current-induced switching, and domain wall (DW) motion in synthetic ferrimagnets consisting of Co/Tb layers with differing stacking order grown on a Pt underlayer. We find that the SOTs, magnetic anisotropy, compensation temperature and SOT-induced switching are highly sensitive to the stacking order of Co and Tb and to the element in contact with Pt. Our study further shows that Tb is an efficient SOT generator when in contact with Co, such that its position in the stack can be adjusted to generate torques additive to those generated by Pt. With optimal stacking and layer thickness, the dampinglike SOT efficiency reaches up to 0.3, which is more than twice that expected from the Pt/Co bilayer. Moreover, the magnetization can be easily switched by the injection of pulses with current density of about 0.5-2*107A/cm2 despite the extremely high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy barrier (up to 7.8 T). Efficient switching is due to the combination of large SOTs and low saturation magnetization owing to the ferrimagnetic character of the multilayers. We observed current-driven DW motion in the absence of any external field, which is indicative of homochiral Néel-type DWs stabilized by the interfacial Dzyaloshinkii-Moriya interaction. These results show that the stacking order in transition metal/rare-earth synthetic ferrimagnets plays a major role in determining the magnetotransport properties relevant for spintronic applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Chiral Coupling between Magnetic Layers with Orthogonal Magnetization

We report on the occurrence of strong interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) between an in-plane magnetized Co layer and a perpendicularly magnetized TbFe layer through a Pt spacer. The DMI causes a chiral coupling that favors one-handed orthogonal magnetic configurations of Co and TbFe, which we reveal through Hall effect and magnetoresistance measurements. The DMI coupling mediated by Pt causes effective magnetic fields on either layer of up to 10-15 mT, which decrease monotonously with increasing Pt thickness. Ru, Ta, and Ti spacers mediate a significantly smaller coupling compared to Pt, highlighting the essential role of Pt in inducing the interlayer DMI. These results are relevant to understand and maximize the interlayer coupling induced by the DMI as well as to design spintronic devices with chiral spin textures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

A two-terminal spin valve device controlled by spin-orbit torques with enhanced giant magnetoresistance

We report on the combination of current-induced spin-orbit torques and giant magnetoresistance in a single device to achieve all-electrical write and read out of the magnetization. The device consists of perpendicularly magnetized TbCo and Co layers separated by a Pt or Cu spacer. Current injection through such layers exerts spin-orbit torques and switches the magnetization of the Co layer while the TbCo magnetization remains fixed. Subsequent current injection of lower amplitude senses the relative orientation of the magnetization of the Co and TbCo layers, which results in two distinct resistance levels for parallel and antiparallel alignment due to the current-in-plane giant magnetoresistance effect. We further show that the giant magnetoresistance of devices including a single TbCo/spacer/Co trilayer can be improved from 0.02% to 6% by using a Cu spacer instead of Pt. This type of devices offers an alternative route to a two terminal spintronic memory that can be fabricated with moderate effort.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Spin-orbit torques and magnetotransport properties of $α$-Sn and $β$-Sn heterostructures

Topological insulators have emerged as an important material class for efficient spin-charge interconversion. Most topological insulators considered to date are binary or ternary compounds, with the exception of $α$-Sn. Here we report a comprehensive characterization of the growth, magnetotransport properties, and current-induced spin-orbit torques of $α$-Sn and $β$-Sn-based ferromagnetic heterostructures. We show that $α$-Sn grown with a Bi surfactant on CdTe(001) promotes large spin-orbit torques in a ferromagnetic FeCo layer at room temperature, comparable to Pt, whereas $α$-Sn grown without Bi surfactant and the non-topological phase, $β$-Sn, induce lower torques. The dampinglike and fieldlike spin-orbit torque efficiency in $α$-Sn with Bi are 0.12 and 0.18, respectively. Further, we show that $α$-Sn grown with and without Bi presents a spin Hall-like magnetoresistance comparable to that found in heavy metal/ferromagnet bilayers. Our work demonstrates direct and efficient charge-to-spin conversion in $α$-Sn ferromagnetic heterostructures, showing that $α$-Sn is a promising material for current-induced magnetization control in spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Current-Induced Magnetization Control in Insulating Ferrimagnetic Garnets

The research into insulating ferrimagnetic garnets has gained enormous momentum in the past decade. This is partly due to the improvement in the techniques to grow high-quality ultrathin films with desirable properties and the advances in understanding the spin transport within the ferrimagnetic garnets and through their interfaces with conducting materials. In recent years, we have seen remarkable progress in controlling the magnetization state of ferrimagnetic garnets by electrical means in suitable heterostructures and device architectures. These advances have readily placed ferrimagnetic garnets in a favorable position for the future development of insulating spintronic concepts. The purpose of this article is to review recent experimental results of the current-induced magnetization control and associated phenomena in ferrimagnetic garnets, as well as to discuss future directions in this rapidly evolving area of spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Asymmetric depinning of chiral domain walls in ferromagnetic trilayers

We show that the coupling between two ferromagnetic layers separated by a nonmagnetic spacer can be used to control the depinning of domain walls and induce unidirectional domain wall propagation. We investigated CoFeB/Ti/CoFeB trilayers where the easy axis of the magnetization of the top CoFeB layer is out-of-plane and that of the bottom layer is in-plane. Using Magneto-optic Kerr effect microscopy, we find that the depinning of a domain wall in the perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB layer is influenced by the orientation of the magnetization of the in-plane layer, which gives rise to a field-driven asymmetric domain expansion. This effect occurs due to the magnetic coupling between the internal magnetization of the domain wall and the magnetization of the in-plane CoFeB layer, which breaks the symmetry of up-down and down-up homochiral Néel domain walls in the perpendicular CoFeB layer. Micromagnetic simulations support these findings by showing that the interlayer coupling either opposes or favors the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in the domain wall, thereby generating an imbalance in the depinning fields. This effect also allows for artificially controlling the chirality and dynamics of domain walls in magnetic layers lacking a strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Effects of Oxidation of Top and Bottom Interfaces on the Electric, Magnetic, and Spin-Orbit Torque Properties of Pt/Co/AlOx Trilayers

Oxidation strongly influences the properties of magnetic layers employed in spintronic devices. We study the effect of oxidation on the structural, magnetic, and electrical properties as well as current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in Pt/Co/AlOx, Pt/CoOx/Co/AlOx, and PtOx/Co/AlOx layers. We show how the saturation magnetization, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, anomalous Hall resistance, and SOT are systematically affected by the degree of oxidation of both the Pt/Co and Co/Al interfaces. Oxidation of the Co/Al interface results in a 21% and 42% variation of the dampinglike and fieldlike SOT efficiencies, which peak at 0.14 and 0.07, respectively. The insertion of a paramagnetic CoOx layer between Pt and Co maintains a very strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and improves the dampinglike and fieldlike SOT efficiencies, up to 0.26 and 0.20, respectively. In contrast with recent reports, we do not find that the oxidation of Pt leads to a significant enhancement of the torques. Rather, we find that oxygen migrates from Pt to the Co and Al layers, leading to a time-dependent oxidation profile and an effective spin Hall conductivity that decreases with increasing oxygen concentration. Finally, we study current-induced switching in Pt/Co/AlOx with different degrees of oxidation and find a linear relationship between the critical switching current and the effective magnetic anisotropy controlled by the oxidation of Al. These results highlight the importance of interfaces and oxidation effects on the SOT and magnetotransport properties of heavy metal/ferromagnet/oxide trilayers and provide information on how to improve the SOT efficiency and magnetization-switching characteristics of these systems.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Effects of transition-metal spacers on the spin-orbit torques, spin Hall magnetoresistance, and magnetic anisotropy of Pt/Co bilayers

We studied the effect of inserting 0.5 nm-thick spacer layers (Ti, V, Cr, Mo, W) at the Pt/Co interface on the spin-orbit torques, Hall effect, magnetoresistance, saturation magnetization, and magnetic anisotropy. We find that the damping-like spin-orbit torque decreases substantially for all samples with a spacer layer compared to the reference Pt/Co bilayer, consistently with the opposite sign of the atomic spin-orbit coupling constant of the spacer elements relative to Pt. The reduction of the damping-like torque is monotonic with atomic number for the isoelectronic 3d, 4d, and 5d elements, with the exception of V that has a stronger effect than Cr. The field-like spin-orbit torque almost vanishes for all spacer layers irrespective of their composition, suggesting that this torque predominantly originates at the Pt/Co interface. The anomalous Hall effect, magnetoresistance, and saturation magnetization are also all reduced substantially, whereas the sheet resistance is increased in the presence of the spacer layer. Finally, we evidence a correlation between the amplitude of the spin-orbit torques, the spin Hall-like magnetoresistance, and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These results highlight the significant influence of ultrathin spacer layers on the magnetotransport properties of heavy metal/ferromagnetic systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Origins of the unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance in metallic bilayers

Recent studies evidence the emergence of asymmetric electron transport in layered conductors owing to the interplay between electrical conductivity, magnetization, and the spin Hall or Rashba- Edelstein effects. Here, we investigate the unidirectional magnetoresistance (UMR) caused by the current-induced spin accumulation in Co/Pt and CoCr/Pt bilayers. We identify three competing mechanisms underpinning the resistance asymmetry, namely interface and bulk spin-dependent electron scattering and electron-magnon scattering. Our measurements provide a consistent description of the current, magnetic field, and temperature dependence of the UMR and show that both positive and negative UMR can be obtained by tuning the interface and bulk spin-dependent scattering terms relative to the magnon population.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Time- and spatially-resolved magnetization dynamics driven by spin-orbit torques

Current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) represent one of the most effective ways to manipulate the magnetization in spintronic devices. The orthogonal torque-magnetization geometry, the strong damping, and the large domain wall velocities inherent to materials with strong spin-orbit coupling make SOTs especially appealing for fast switching applications in nonvolatile memory and logic units. So far, however, the timescale and evolution of the magnetization during the switching process have remained undetected. Here, we report the direct observation of SOT-driven magnetization dynamics in Pt/Co/AlO$_x$ dots during current pulse injection. Time-resolved x-ray images with 25 nm spatial and 100 ps temporal resolution reveal that switching is achieved within the duration of a sub-ns current pulse by the fast nucleation of an inverted domain at the edge of the dot and propagation of a tilted domain wall across the dot. The nucleation point is deterministic and alternates between the four dot quadrants depending on the sign of the magnetization, current, and external field. Our measurements reveal how the magnetic symmetry is broken by the concerted action of both damping-like and field-like SOT and show that reproducible switching events can be obtained for over $10^{12}$ reversal cycles.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Interface enhanced spin-orbit torques and current-induced magnetization switching of Pd/Co/AlO$_x$ layers

Magnetic heterostructures that combine large spin-orbit torque efficiency, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and low resistivity are key to develop electrically-controlled memory and logic devices. Here we report on vector measurements of the current-induced spin orbit torques and magnetization switching in perpendicularly magnetized Pd/Co/AlO$_x$ layers as a function of Pd thickness. We find sizeable damping-like (DL) and field-like (FL) torques, of the order of 1~mT per $10^7$~A/cm$^2$, which have different thickness and magnetization angle dependence. The analysis of the DL torque efficiency per unit current density and electric field using drift-diffusion theory leads to an effective spin Hall angle and spin diffusion length of Pd larger than 0.03 and 7~nm, respectively. The FL SOT includes a significant interface contribution, is larger than estimated using drift-diffusion parameters, and is further strongly enhanced upon rotation of the magnetization from the out-of-plane to the in-plane direction. Finally, taking advantage of the large spin-orbit torques in this system, we demonstrate bipolar magnetization switching of Pd/Co/AlO$_x$ layers with similar current density as used for Pt/Co layers with comparable perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Magnetoresistance of heavy and light metal/ferromagnet bilayers

We studied the magnetoresistance of normal metal (NM)/ferromagnet (FM) bilayers in the linear and nonlinear (current-dependent) regimes and compared it with the amplitude of the spin-orbit torques and thermally induced electric fields. Our experiments reveal that the magnetoresistance of the heavy NM/Co bilayers (NM = Ta, W, Pt) is phenomenologically similar to the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) of YIG/Pt, but has a much larger anisotropy, of the order of 0.5%, which increases with the atomic number of the NM. This SMR-like behavior is absent in light NM/Co bilayers (NM = Ti, Cu), which present the standard AMR expected of polycrystalline FM layers. In the Ta, W, Pt/Co bilayers we find an additional magnetoresistance, directly proportional to the current and to the transverse component of the magnetization. This so-called unidirectional SMR, of the order of 0.005%, is largest in W and correlates with the amplitude of the antidamping spin-orbit torque. The unidirectional SMR is below the accuracy of our measurements in YIG/Pt.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/normal metal bilayers

Magnetoresistive effects are usually invariant upon inversion of the magnetization direction. In noncentrosymmetric conductors, however, nonlinear resistive terms can give rise to a current dependence that is quadratic in the applied voltage and linear in the magnetization. Here we demonstrate that such conditions are realized in simple bilayer metal films where the spin-orbit interaction and spin-dependent scattering couple the current-induced spin accumulation to the electrical conductivity. We show that the longitudinal resistance of Ta|Co and Pt|Co bilayers changes when reversing the polarity of the current or the sign of the magnetization. This unidirectional magnetoresistance scales linearly with current density and has opposite sign in Ta and Pt, which we associate with the modification of the interface scattering potential induced by the spin Hall effect in these materials. Our results suggest a route to control the resistance and detect magnetization switching in spintronic devices using a two-terminal geometry, which applies also to heterostructures including topological insulators.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗