arXiv subjects

Lujun Zhu

Publications and source records attributed to Lujun Zhu.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Negligible current-induced torque from the bulk and interface of Al

The light metal Al was predicted to have strong orbital Hall and Rashba effects from its bulk and interface, respectively. In this letter, we report experimental evidence that neither the bulk nor the interface of the Al contributed a detectable torque on adjacent Co and FePt layers with significant spin Hall effect, spin-orbit coupling, and resistivity mismatch with Al. These results suggest minimal orbital-spin conversion in Al and negligible orbital transport and spin-vorticity torque in Co/Al, Al/Co, and Al/FePt bilayers. Our findings suggest poor generality and/or effectiveness of torque contributions by the orbital Hall effect, the interfacial orbital Rashba effect, and the spin-vorticity coupling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Absence of orbital current torque in a magnetic metal/Pt/CuOx trilayer

Naturally oxidized copper (CuOx) was cited as an exceptionally strong orbital-current source despite the keen debate over the concept of orbital current. Here, we report unambiguous experimental evidence for the absence of a detectable orbital-current torque in the Fe/Pt/CuOx trilayers. Using a magnetic metal detector of Fe thin film with a negligible self-induced torque, the damping-like torque due to Pt/CuOx bilayers is clarified to entirely arise from the spin Hall spin current of the Pt. As the Pt thickness increases, the torque for Fe/Pt/CuOx and Fe/Pt/MgO increases coherently and monotonically, as exactly expected from the spin Hall effect of Pt and the drift-diffusion model of spin angular momentum. These findings suggest poor generality or even universal absence of orbital current torque.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Dominant spin Hall torque and negligible orbital Hall torque in {\alpha}-W/ferromagnet heterostructures with artifacts-free angular momentum detectors

{\alpha}-phased W was theoretically predicted to have a negative spin Hall conductivity and a positive orbital Hall conductivity at the same time, leaving the physical origin of the current-induced torque a critical open question. Here, we develop two angular momentum detectors of Cu/Ni/Cu and Cu/Fe60Co20B20/Cu that are free of artifacts torques (e.g., self-induced torque and spin-vorticity torque) and clarify that the spin-orbit torque contributed by {\alpha}-W remains negative and predominantly from the spin Hall effect in the entire thickness regime. The damping-like torque exhibits a monotonic decay as the W thickness increases above 5 nm likely due to the thickness-dependent structural evolution and resistivity reduction of the W layer. The negative torque in the entire thickness regime suggests negligible orbital Hall torque from {\alpha}-W. This result is consistent with the theory that the orbital Hall effect from simplified band structure calculations is not a non-local angular momentum source.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Evidence for strong localization of orbital polarization

Whether orbital polarization propagates has become the most essential question of the blooming orbitronics that aims to generate non-local orbital torque and orbital pumping. Recent theories have suggested a strong orbital Hall effect within the light metal Al and a strong orbital Rashba effect at Co/Al interfaces, providing ideal platforms for experimental verification of possible orbital transport effects. Here, we report robust experimental evidence for the strong localization of orbital polarization. We demonstrate that neither the bulk nor the interface of the Al contributes a detectable orbital torque on adjacent magnetic layer with strong bulk and interfacial spin-orbit coupling necessary for potential orbital-spin conversion. These results have clarified that orbital polarization undergoes much faster relaxation than spin polarization and hardly participates in non-local accumulation, transport, or torque generation. The experimental evidence for strong localization of orbital polarization represents a groundbreaking advance towards solving the essential orbital torque debate.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Linear Enhancement of Spin-Orbit Torques and Absence of Bulk Rashba-Type Spin Splitting in Perpendicularly Magnetized [Pt/Co/W]n Superlattices

The development of magnetic heterostructures with strong spin-orbit torques (SOTs), low impedance, strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), and good integration compatibility at the same time is central for high-performance spintronic memory and computing applications. Here, we report the development of the symmetry-broken spin-orbit superlattice [Pt/Co/W]n that can be sputtered-deposited on commercial oxidized silicon substrates and have giant SOTs, strong uniaxial PMA of 9.2 Merg/cm3. The dampinglike and fieldlike SOTs of the [Pt/Co/W]n superlattices exhibit a linear increase with the repeat number n and reach the giant values of 225% and -33% (two orders of magnitude greater than that in clean-limit Pt) at n = 12, respectively. The dampinglike SOT is also of the opposite sign and much greater in magnitude than the fieldlike SOT, regardless of the number of n. These results clarify that the spin current that generates SOTs in the [Pt/Co/W]n superlattices arises predominantly from the spin Hall effect rather than bulk Rashba-type spin splitting, providing a unified understanding of the SOTs in the superlattices. We also demonstrate deterministic switching in thicker-than-50-nm PMA [Pt/Co/W]12 superlattices at a low current density. This work establishes the [Pt/Co/W]n superlattice as a compelling material candidate for ultra-fast, low-power, long-retention nonvolatile spintronic memory and computing technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Orbital torque switching in perpendicularly magnetized materials

The orbital Hall effect in light materials has attracted considerable attention for developing novel orbitronic devices. Here we investigate the orbital torque efficiency and demonstrate the switching of the perpendicularly magnetized materials through the orbital Hall material (OHM), i.e., Zirconium (Zr). The orbital torque efficiency of approximately 0.78 is achieved in the Zr OHM with the perpendicularly magnetized [Co/Pt]3 sample, which significantly surpasses that of the perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB/Gd/CoFeB sample (approximately 0.04). Such notable difference is attributed to the different spin-orbit correlation strength between the [Co/Pt]3 sample and the CoFeB/Gd/CoFeB sample, which has been confirmed through the theoretical calculations. Furthermore, the full magnetization switching of the [Co/Pt]3 sample with a switching current density of approximately 2.6x106 A/cm2 has been realized through Zr, which even outperforms that of the W spin Hall material. Our finding provides a guideline to understand orbital torque efficiency and paves the way to develop energy-efficient orbitronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Giant coercivity, resistivity upturn, and anomalous Hall effect in ferrimagnetic FeTb

Despite the blooming interest, the transition-metal rare-earth ferrimagnets have not been comprehensively understood in terms of their coercivity and transport properties. Here, we report a systematic study of the magnetic and transport properties of ferrimagnetic FeTb alloy by varying the layer thickness and temperature. The FeTb is tuned from the Tb-dominated regime to the Fe-dominated regime via the layer thickness, without varying the composition. The coercivity closely follows the $1/\cos\theta_H$ scaling (where $\theta_H$ is the polar angle of the external magnetic field) and increases quasi-exponentially upon cooling (exceeding 90 kOe at low temperatures), revealing that the nature of the coercivity is the thermally-assisted domain wall depinning field. The resistivity exhibits a quasi-linear upturn upon cooling possibly due to thermal vibrations of the structure factor of the amorphous alloy. The existing scaling laws of the anomalous Hall effect in the literature break down for the amorphous FeTb that are either Fe- or Tb-dominated. These findings should advance the understanding of the transition-metal-rare-earth ferrimagnets and the associated ferrimagnetic phenomena in spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Boosting spin-orbit torque efficiency in spin-current generator/magnet/oxide superlattices

Efficient manipulation of magnetic materials is essential for spintronics. In spin-current generator/magnet bilayers, the efficiency of spin-orbit torques per magnetic layer thickness scales inversely with the magnetic layer thickness, leading to considerable power increase in applications with large magnetic layer thickness. Here, we develop a 3D spin-orbit material scheme in which the spin torque efficiency can be remarkably boosted up by stacking [spin-current generator/magnet/oxide]n superlattices, with the oxide layers breaking the inversion symmetry. In contrast, the spin torque diminishes in [spin-current generator/magnet]n superlattices lacking inversion symmetry breaking. These results advances the understanding of spin-orbit torques in magnetic multilayers and establishes spin-current generator/magnet/oxide superlattices as advantageous bricks for development of high energy-efficiency, high-endurance, and high-density spintronic memory and computing.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Strong Spin-Orbit Torque Induced by the Intrinsic Spin Hall Effect in Cr1-xPtx

We report on a spin-orbit torque study of the spin current generation in Cr1-xPtx alloy, using the light 3d ferromagnetic Co as the spin current detector. We find that the dampinglike spin-orbit torque of Cr1-xPtx/Co bilayers can be enhanced by tuning the Cr concentration in the Cr1-xPtx layer, with a maximal value of 0.31 at the optimal composition of Cr0.2Pt0.8. We find that the spin current generation in the Cr1-xPtx alloy can be fully understood by the characteristic trade-off between the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity of Pt and the carrier lifetime in the dirty limit. We find no evidence for the spin current generation by other mechanisms in this material, revealing that the role of Cr is found to be simply the same as other metals and oxides in previous studies. This work also establishes the low-resistivity Cr0.2Pt0.8 as an energy-efficient spin-orbit torque provider for magnetic memory and computing technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and spin-orbit torque in Au1-xPtx/Co bilayers with varying interfacial spin-orbit coupling

The quantitative roles of the interfacial spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and dampinglike spin-orbit torque (τDL) have remained unsettled after a decade of intensive study. Here, we report a conclusive experiment evidence that, because of the critical role of the interfacial orbital hybridization, the interfacial DMI is not necessarily a linear function of the interfacial SOC, e.g. at Au1-xPtx/Co interfaces where the interfacial SOC can be tuned significantly via strongly composition (x)-dependent spin-orbit proximity effect without varying the bulk SOC and the electronegativity of the Au1-xPtx layer. We also find that τDL in the Au1-xPtx/Co bilayers varies distinctly from the interfacial SOC as a function of x, indicating no important τDL contribution from the interfacial Rashba-Edelstein effect.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Fully Spin-transparent magnetic interfaces enabled by insertion of a paramagnetic NiO layer

Spin backflow and spin-memory loss have been well established to considerably lower the interfacial spin transmissivity of metallic magnetic interfaces and thus the energy efficiency of spin-orbit torque technologies. Here we report that spin backflow and spin-memory loss at Pt-based heavy metal/ferromagnet interfaces can be effectively eliminated by inserting an insulating paramagnetic NiO layer of optimum thickness. The latter enables the thermal magnon-mediated essentially unity spin-current transmission at room temperature due to considerably enhanced effective spin-mixing conductance of the interface. As a result, we obtain dampinglike spin-orbit torque efficiency per unit current density of up to 0.8 as detected by the standard technology ferromagnet FeCoB and others, which reaches the expected upper-limit spin Hall ratio of Pt. We establish that Pt/NiO and Pt-Hf/NiO are two energy-efficient, integration-friendly, and high-endurance spin-current generators that provide >100 times greater energy efficiency than sputter-deposited topological insulators BiSb and BiSe. Our finding will benefit spin-orbitronic research and advance spin-torque technologies.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Origin of Strong Two-Magnon Scattering in Heavy Metal/Ferromagnet/Oxide Heterostructures

We experimentally investigate the origin of the two-magnon scattering (TMS) in heavy-metal (HM)/ferromagnet (FM)/oxide heterostructures (FM = Co, Ni81Fe19, or Fe60Co20B20) by varying the materials located above and below the FM layers. We show that strong TMS in HM/FM/oxide systems arises primarily at the HM/FM interface and increases with the strength of interfacial spin-orbit coupling and magnetic roughness at this interface. TMS at the FM/oxide interface is relatively weak, even in systems where spin-orbit coupling at this interface generates strong interfacial magnetic anisotropy. We also suggest that the spin-current-induced excitation of non-uniform short-wavelength magnon at the HM/FM interface may function as a mechanism of spin memory loss for the spin-orbit torque exerted on the uniform mode.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Energy-efficient ultrafast SOT-MRAMs based on low-resistivity spin Hall metal Au0.25Pt0.75

Many key electronic technologies (e.g., large-scale computing, machine learning, and superconducting electronics) require new memories that are fast, reliable, energy-efficient, and of low-impedance at the same time, which has remained a challenge. Non-volatile magnetoresistive random access memories (MRAMs) driven by spin-orbit torques (SOTs) have promise to be faster and more energy-efficient than conventional semiconductor and spin-transfer-torque magnetic memories. This work reports that the spin Hall effect of low-resistivity Au0.25Pt0.75 thin films enables ultrafast antidamping-torque switching of SOT-MRAM devices for current pulse widths as short as 200 ps. If combined with industrial-quality lithography and already-demonstrated interfacial engineering, our results show that an optimized MRAM cell based on Au0.25Pt0.75 can have energy-efficient, ultrafast, and reliable switching, e.g. a write energy of < 1 fJ (< 50 fJ) for write error rate of 50% (<1e-5) for 1 ns pulses. The antidamping torque switching of the Au0.25Pt0.75 devices is 10 times faster than expected from a rigid macrospin model, most likely because of the fast micromagnetics due to the enhanced non-uniformity within the free layer. These results demonstrate the feasibility of Au0.25Pt0.75-based SOT-MRAMs as a candidate for ultrafast, reliable, energy-efficient, low-impedance, and unlimited-endurance memory.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Intrinsic nature of the giant spin Hall conductivity of Pt

More than a decade after the first theoretical and experimental studies of the spin Hall conductivity (SHC) of Pt, both its dominant origin and amplitude remain in dispute. Resolving these questions is of fundamental importance for advancing understanding of very strong spin-orbit effects in conducting systems and for maximizing the spin Hall effect for energy-efficient spintronics applications. Here, we report the experimental determination of the rapid variation of the intrinsic SHC of Pt with the carrier lifetime (τ) in the dirty-metal regime by incorporating finely dispersed MgO inter-site impurities into the Pt while maintaining the essential elements of its band structure (face-centered-cubic order). This findings conclusively validate the theoretical prediction that the SHC in Pt in the dirty-metal regime should be dominated by the intrinsic Berry curvature contribution and should decrease rapidly with shortening τ. This also establishes the limit to which the spin Hall ratio θSH of pure Pt can be increased by shortening τ. When the spin backflow at the Pt/ferromagnet interface due to the finite interfacial spin-mixing conductance is taken into account, the amplitude of the intrinsic SHC of Pt in the clean limit is found to be at least 1.6x10^6 (h_bar/2e) Ω-1 m-1, more than 3.5 times greater than the available theoretical predictions. Our work also establishes a compelling spin Hall metal Pt0.6(MgO)0.4 that combines a giant θSH (0.73) with a moderate resistivity (74 μΩ cm), a strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, easy growth, and good integration compatibility for spintronics technology.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Enhancing spin-orbit torque by strong interfacial scattering from ultra-thin insertion layers

Increasing dampinglike spin-orbit torque (SOT) is both of fundamental importance for enabling new research into spintronics phenomena and also technologically urgent for advancing low-power spin-torque memory, logic, and oscillator devices. Here, we demonstrate that enhancing interfacial scattering by inserting ultra-thin layers within a spin Hall metals with intrinsic or side-jump mechanisms can significantly enhance the spin Hall ratio. The dampinglike SOT was enhanced by a factor of 2 via sub-monolayer Hf insertion, as evidenced by both harmonic response measurements and current-induced switching of in-plane magnetized magnetic memory devices with the record low critical switching current of ~73 uA (switching current density of 3.6x10^6 A/cm^2). This work demonstrates a very effective strategy for maximizing dampinglike SOT for low-power spin-torque devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Dimension Engineering of Narrow Bandgap Semiconductor InAs Nanostructures in Wafer-Scale

Here, we demonstrate an approach that provides a precise control of the dimension of InAs from one-dimensional nanowires to wafer-scale free-standing two-dimensional nanosheets, which have a high degree of crystallinity and outstanding electrical and optical properties, using molecular-beam epitaxy by controlling catalyst alloy segregation. In our approach, two-dimensional InAs nanosheets can be obtained directly from one-dimensional InAs nanowires by silver-indium alloy segregation, which is much easier than all previously reported method, such as traditional buffering technique and select area epitaxial growth. Detailed transmission electron microscopy investigations provide a solid evidence that the catalyst alloy segregation is the origination of the InAs dimensional transformation from one-dimensional nanowires to two-dimensional nanosheets, and even to three-dimensional complex crosses. Using this method, we find that the wafer-scale free-standing InAs nanosheets can be grown on various substrates including Si, MgO, sapphire and GaAs etc. The InAs nanosheets grown at high temperature are pure phase single crystals and have a high electron mobility and a long time-resolved THz kinetics lifetime. Our work will open up a conceptually new and general technology route toward the effective controlling the dimension of the low-dimensional III-V semiconductors. It may also enable the low-cost fabrication of free-standing nanosheet-based devices on an industrial scale.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Nature of the growth of plasma electrolyte oxidation coating on Aluminum

The localized dielectric breakdown had been considered as the driving force for growth of plasma electrolytic oxide (PEO) coatings for several decades. However, the TEM study here reveals the dielectric breakdown behavior has little contribution for coating thickening. The presented evidences show the nature of PEO coating growth in all three consecutive stages I-III is ionic migration behavior inside the amorphous alumina layer (AAL) at the coating/matrix interface. The evolution of morphological characterizations in the PEO process is attributed to the interfacial reactions of AAL/alkaline (stage I), AAL/discharge-on-surface (stage II) and AAL/discharge-in-pore (stage III).

physics.app-ph↗