arXiv subjects

Rohit Medwal

Publications and source records attributed to Rohit Medwal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Observation of large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and excessive polar magneto-optical effect in Pt/CoFeB/Ru tri-layer system

Heterostructures comprising ferromagnet (FM) and heavy metals (HM) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (iDMI) can host chiral domain walls and topological spin textures, making them highly promising for various spintronics applications. In this paper, we have investigated the magneto-optical properties, the anomalous Hall effect (AHE), and PMA of Pt/CoFeB/Ru multilayers engineered to possess significant iDMI. We utilized the Anomalous Hall effect (AHE), and the polar magneto-optical Kerr effect (p-MOKE), Hall response and the domain wall motion in Pt/CoFeB/Ru-systems. Both MOKE and AHE measurements confirm that the films maintain strong perpendicular magnetization for CoFeB thicknesses below 1.2 nm. The effective magnetic anisotropy K_{\mathrm{eff}} of 0.88 \times 10^6 erg/cm^3 has been achieved without any post-annealing, highlighting the high-quality interface in this multilayer design. The angular dependence of the switching field deviates from the conventional Kondorsky model and is well described using a modified Kondorsky formalism, capturing the role of field-induced domain-wall softening and pinning effects in the reversal process. Furthermore, p-MOKE microscopy imaging during the magnetization reversal process provides detailed insight into domain nucleation and subsequent domain-wall propagation. The observations reveal well-defined, stable magnetic domains that evolve coherently under the applied magnetic field. Such a behavior is expected in the system where interfacial DMI, PMA interact to stabilize the chiral N\'eel-type domain walls, which are essential for fast, low-power domain-wall motion driven by spin-orbit torques.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Probing Interfacial Spin Dynamics and Temperature Dependent Asymmetry in Spin Pumping Across Ni80Fe20/Cu/Cr1.12Te2 Interfaces

Spin transfers in magnetic multilayers offers a promising pathway toward ultrafast, energy-efficient spintronic devices. In this study, we investigate the interfacial spin pumping and temperature-dependent spin current exchange in a Cr1.12Te2/Cu/Ni80Fe20 (Py)(FM1/NM/FM2) trilayer structure. Using broadband and cryogenic ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements, we investigate key magnetization dynamical parameters, including the effective Gilbert damping factor, effective magnetic fields, interfacial spin mixing conductance, and spin current density. Efficient spin angular momentum transfers from Py to Cr1.12Te2 are observed at room temperature. At lower temperatures, the enhanced linewidth reflects temperature dependent spin pumping effects occurring at distinct precession frequencies of the ferromagnetic layers. Notably, the absence of interfacial Damping indicates that spin pumping can be modulated by controlling the net spin current flow. These findings offer critical insight into temperature-dependent tunable spin transport mechanisms in magnetic multilayers, highlighting their potential for next-generation spintronic applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Tunable exchange bias in Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$ film on Gd$_3$Ga$_5$O$_{12}$

Ferrimagnetic Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$ grown on the (001) surface of paramagnetic Gd$_3$Ga$_5$O$_{12}$ experiences an exchange bias field, which has been attributed to the magnetism of an interface layer between the two materials. We report here that when grown using sputtering and with lower post-annealing temperatures than in previous works, the blocking temperature of the interface magnetic layer is lowered to about 7 K, while still displaying a strong exchange bias. This exchange bias is then found to be tunable between its two extreme values by carefully varying the field cooling protocol. This is attributed to a slow and complex dynamics of the spins of the interface-layer when it is warmed up close to its blocking (or melting) temperature, which is reminiscent of a spin glass.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Enhanced Spin Pumping and Magnetization dynamics in Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$/MoS$_2$ stack via interface modification

Materials with strong spin orbit coupling (SOC) are essential for realizing spin orbit torque (SOT) based magnetic memory devices. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are promising candidates for such appli cations because of their inherently high SOC strength. In this study, we investigate the spin pumping effect at the interface between a monolayer of molybdenum disulfide (ML-MoS$_2$) and Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$ (Py) thin films using broadband ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy. FMR measurements reveal a notable enhancement in the effective Gilbert damping factor for the ML-MoS$_2$/Py (Pt = 0 nm) interface compared to the reference Py thin films, attributed to spin pumping across the ML-MoS$_2$/Py interface. To further quantify spin pumping efficiency, we introduce a high SOC platinum (Pt) interlayer at the ML-MoS$_2$/Py interface and systematically vary its thickness. This allows us to evaluate key spin transport parameters, including the enhancement in the effective Gilbert damping parameter, the effective spin mixing conductance that reflects the transfer of spin angular momentum from Py to ML-MoS$_2$ and the effective spin current density.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2024

Enhancement of spin current to charge current conversion in Ferromagnet/Graphene interface

The use of graphene in spintronic devices is contingent on its ability to convert a spin current into a charge current. We have systematically investigated the spin pumping induced spin-to-charge current conversion at the Graphene/FM interface and the effect of interface modification through high spin orbit coupling (SOC) material (Pt) as an interlayer (IL) of varying thicknesses by using broadband FMR spectroscopy. The spin mixing conductance is enhanced from $1.66 \times 10^{18}$ m$^{-2}$ to $2.72 \times 10^{18}$ m$^{-2}$ whereas the spin current density is enhanced from 0.135$\pm $0.003 to 0.242$\pm$0.004 MA/m$^{2}$ at the Graphene/FM interface due to the interface modification using high SOC material Pt as an interlayer. The spin current to charge current conversion efficiency turns out to be $\approx 0.003$ nm for the Graphene/FM interface. These findings support the idea that Graphene in combination with high SOC material (Pt) could be a potential candidate for spintronic applications, specifically for spin-torque-based memory applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Phase Binarization in Mutually Synchronized Bias Field-free Spin Hall Nano-oscillators for Reservoir Computing

Mutually coupled spin Hall nano-oscillators (SHNO) can exhibit binarized phase state, offering pathways to realize Ising machines and efficient neuromorphic hardware. Conventionally, phase binarization is achieved in coupled SHNOs via injecting an external microwave at twice of the oscillator frequency in presence of a biasing magnetic field. However, this technology poses potential challenges of higher energy consumption and complex circuit design. Moreover, fabrication-induced mismatch in SHNO dimensions may hinder mutual synchronization. Addressing these challenges, we demonstrate purely DC current-driven mutual synchronization and phase binarization of two non-identical nanoconstriction SHNOs without biasing magnetic field and microwave injection. We thoroughly investigate these phenomena and underlying mechanisms using micromagnetic simulation. We further demonstrate the bias field-free synchronized SHNO pair efficiently performing a reservoir computing benchmark learning task: sin and square wave classification, utilizing current tunable phase binarization. Our results showcase promising magnetization dynamics of coupled bias field-free SHNOs for future computing applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Direct visualization of local magnetic domain dynamics in a 2D Van der Walls material/ferromagnet interface

Exploring new strategies for controlling the magnetic domain propagation is the key to realize ultrafast, high-density domain wall-based memory and logic devices for next generation computing. These strategies include strain modulation in multiferroic devices, geometric confinement and area-selective pinning of domain wall. 2D Van der Waals materials introduce localized modifications to the interfacial magnetic order, enabling control over the propagation of magnetic domains. Here, using Lorentz-Transmission Electron Microscopy (L-TEM) along with the Modified Transport of Intensity equations (MTIE), we demonstrate controlled domain expansion with in-situ magnetic field in a ferromagnet (Permalloy, NiFe) interfacing with a 2D Van der Waals material Graphene (Gr). The Gr/NiFe interface exhibits distinctive domain expansion rate with magnetic field selectively near the interface which is further analyzed using micromagnetic simulations. Our findings are crucial for comprehending direct visualization of interface controlled magnetic domain expansion, offering insights for developing future domain wall-based technology.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Reconfigurable neural spiking in bias field-free spin Hall nano oscillator

In this study, we theoretically investigate neuron-like spiking dynamics in an elliptic ferromagnet/heavy metal bilayer-based spin Hall nano oscillator (SHNO) in bias field-free condition, much suitable for practical realization of brain inspired computing schemes. We demonstrate regular periodic spiking with tunable frequency as well as the leaky-integrate-and-fire (LIF) behavior in a single SHNO by manipulating the pulse features of input current. The frequency of regular periodic spiking is tunable in a range of 0.5 GHz to 0.96 GHz (460 MHz bandwidth) through adjusting the magnitude of constant input dc current density. We further demonstrate the reconfigurability of spiking dynamics in response to a time varying input accomplished by continuously increasing the input current density as a linear function of time. Macrospin theory and micromagnetic simulation provide insights into the origin of bias field-free auto-oscillation and the spiking phenomena in our SHNO. In addition, we discuss how the shape anisotropy of the elliptic ferromagnet influence the bias field-free auto oscillation characteristics, including threshold current, frequency and transition from in-plane to out-of-plane precession. The SHNO operates below $10^{12} A/m^2$ input current density and exhibits a large auto-oscillation amplitude, ensuring high output power. We show that the threshold current density can be reduced by decreasing the ellipticity of the ferromagnet layer as well as enhancing the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These findings highlight the potential of bias field-free elliptic SHNO in designing power-efficient spiking neuron-based neuromorphic hardware.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Interfacial spintronic THz emission

The broken inversion symmetry at the ferromagnet (FM)/heavy-metal (HM) interface leads to spin-dependent degeneracy of the energy band, forming spin-polarized surface states. As a result, the interface serves as an effective medium for converting spin accumulation into two-dimensional charge current through the inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect. Exploring and assessing this spin-to-charge conversion (SCC) phenomenon at the FM/HM interface could offer a promising avenue to surpass the presumed limits of SCC in bulk HM layers. We utilize spintronic heterostructures as a platform to measure the spin-to-charge conversion (SCC) experienced by photoexcited spin currents. These heterostructures emit terahertz electric field when illuminated by femtosecond laser pulses, enabling us to quantitatively assess the ultrafast SCC process. Our results demonstrate a robust interfacial spin-to-charge conversion (iSCC) within a synthetic antiferromagnetic heterostructure, specifically for the NiFe/Ru/NiFe configuration, by isolating the SCC contribution originating from the interface itself, separate from the bulk heavy-metal (HM) region. Moreover, the iSCC at the NiFe/Ru interface is discovered to be approximately 27% of the strength observed in the highest spin-Hall conducting heavy-metal, Pt. Our results thus highlight the significance of interfacial engineering as a promising pathway for achieving efficient ultrafast spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Unconventional spin polarization at Argon ion milled SrTiO3 Interfaces

Interfacial two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at the perovskite-type oxide, such as SrTiO3, has attracted significant attention due to its properties of ferromagnetism, superconductivity, and its potential application in oxide-based low-power consumption electronics. Recent studies have investigated spin-to-charge conversion at the STO interface with different materials, which could affect the efficiency of this 2DEG interface. In this report, we presented an Ar^+ ion milling method to create a 2DEG at STO directly by inducing oxygen vacancies. To quantify the spin-to-charge conversion of this interface, we measured the angular-dependent spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) spectra, revealing an unconventional spin polarization at the interface of Argon ion-milled STO and NiFe. Furthermore, a micromagnetic simulation for angular-dependent spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) has been performed, confirming the large unconventional spin polarization at the interface.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Magnetization dynamics due to field interplay in field free spin Hall nano-oscillators

Spin Hall nano oscillators (SHNOs) have shown applications in unconventional computing schemes and broadband frequency generation in the presence of applied external magnetic field. However, under field-free conditions, the oscillation characteristics of SHNOs display a significant dependence on the effective field, which can be tuned by adjusting the constriction width, thereby presenting an intriguing area of study. Here we study the effect of nano constriction width on the magnetization dynamics in anisotropy assisted field free SHNOs. In uniaxial anisotropy-based field-free SHNOs, either the anisotropy field or the demagnetization field can dominate the magnetization dynamics depending on the constriction width. Our findings reveal distinct auto-oscillation characteristics in narrower constrictions with 20 nm and 30 nm constriction width compared to their wider counterpart with 100 nm width. The observed frequency shift variations with input current and constriction widths stem from the inherent nonlinearity of the system. The interplay between the B_demag and B_anis, coupled with changes in constriction width, yields rich dynamics and offers control over frequency tunability, auto oscillation amplitude, and threshold current. Notably, the spatial configuration of spin wave wells within the constriction undergoes transformations in response to changes in both constriction width and anisotropy. The findings highlight the significant influence of competing fields at the constriction on the field-free auto oscillations of SHNOs, with this impact intensifying as the constriction width is varied.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Dense plasma irradiated platinum with improved spin Hall effect

The impurity incorporation in host high-spin orbit coupling materials like platinum has shown improved charge-to-spin conversion by modifying the up-spin and down-spin electron trajectories by bending or skewing them in opposite directions. This enables efficient generation, manipulation, and transport of spin currents. In this study, we irradiate the platinum with non-focus dense plasma to incorporate the oxygen ion species. We systematically analyze the spin Hall angle of the oxygen plasma irradiated Pt films using spin torque ferromagnetic resonance. Our results demonstrate a 2.4 times enhancement in the spin Hall effect after plasma treatment of Pt as compared to pristine Pt. This improvement is attributed to the introduction of disorder and defects in the Pt lattice, which enhances the spin-orbit coupling and leads to more efficient charge-to-spin conversion without breaking the spin-orbit torque symmetries. Our findings offer a new method of dense plasma-based modification of material for the development of advanced spintronic devices based on Pt and other heavy metals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Interfacial magnetic anisotropy controlled spin pumping in Co60Fe20B20/Pt stack

Controlled spin transport in magnetic stacks is required to realize pure spin current-driven logic and memory devices. The control over the generation and detection of the pure spin current is achieved by tuning the spin to charge conversion efficiency of the heavy metal interfacing with ferromagnets. Here, we demonstrate the direct tunability of spin angular momentum transfer and thereby spin pumping, in CoFeB/Pt stack, with interfacial magnetic anisotropy. The ultra-low thickness of CoFeB thin film tilts the magnetic easy axis from in-plane to out-of-plane due to surface anisotropy. The Ferromagnetic resonance measurements are performed to investigate the magnetic anisotropy and spin pumping in CoFeB/Pt stacks. We clearly observe tunable spin pumping effect in the CoFeB/Pt stacks with varying CoFeB thicknesses. The spin current density, with varying ferromagnetic layer thickness, is found to increase from 0.11 to 0.24 MA/m2, with increasing in-plane anisotropy field. Such interfacial anisotropy-controlled generation of pure spin current can potentially lead to next-generation anisotropic spin current-controlled spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Secondary spin current driven efficient THz spintronic emitters

Femtosecond laser-induced photoexcitation of ferromagnet (FM)/heavy metal (HM) heterostructures have attracted attention by emitting broadband terahertz frequencies. The phenomenon relies on the formation of ultrafast spin current, which is largely attributed to the direct photoexcitation of the FM layer. However, we reveal that during the process, the FM layer also experiences a secondary excitation led by the hot electrons from the HM layer that travel across the FM/HM interface and transfer additional energy in the FM. Thus, the generated secondary spins enhance the total spin current formation and lead to amplified spintronic terahertz emission. The results also emphasize the significance of the secondary spin current, which even exceeds the primary spin currents when FM/HM heterostructures with thicker HM are used. An analytical model is developed to provide deeper insights into the microscopic processes within the individual layers, underlining the generalized ultrafast superdiffusive spin-transport mechanism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Room temperature charge-to-spin conversion from q-2DEG at SrTiO3-based interfaces

Interfacial two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), especially the SrTiO3-based ones at the unexpected interface of insulators, have emerged to be a promising candidate for efficient charge-spin current interconversion. In this article, to gain insight into the mechanism of the charge-spin current interconversion at the oxide-based 2DEG, we focused on conducting interfaces between insulating SrTiO3 and two types of aluminium-based amorphous insulators, namely SrTiO3/AlN and SrTiO3/Al2O3, and estimated their charge-spin conversion efficiency, {\theta}_cs. The two types of amorphous insulators were selected to explicitly probe the overlooked contribution of oxygen vacancy to the {\theta}_cs. We proposed a mechanism to explain results of spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) measurements and developed an analysis protocol to reliably estimate the {\theta}_cs of the oxide based 2DEG. The resultant {\theta}_cs/t, where t is the thickness of the 2DEG, were estimated to be 0.244 nm-1 and 0.101 nm-1 for the SrTiO3/AlN and SrTiO3/Al2O3, respectively, and they are strikingly comparable to their crystalline counterparts. Furthermore, we also observe a large direct current modulation of resonance linewidth in SrTiO3/AlN samples, confirming its high {\theta}_cs and attesting an oxygen-vacancy-enabled charge-spin conversion. Our findings emphasize the defects' contribution to the charge-spin interconversion, especially in the oxide-based low dimensional systems, and provide a way to create and enhance charge-spin interconversion via defect engineering.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Disentanglement of intrinsic and extrinsic side-jump scattering induced spin Hall effect in N-implanted Pt

The rapidly evolving utilization of spin Hall effect (SHE) arising from spin-orbit coupling in 5d transition metals and alloys have made giant strides in the development of designing low-power, robust and non-volatile magnetic memory. Recent studies, on incorporating non-metallic lighter elements such as oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur into 5d transition metals, have shown an enhancement in damping-like torque efficiency θ_DL due to the modified SHE, but the mechanism behind this enhancement is not clear. In this paper, we study θ_DL at different temperatures (100-293 K) to disentangle the intrinsic and extrinsic side-jump scattering induced spin Hall effect in N-implanted Pt. We observe a crossover of intrinsic to extrinsic side-jump mechanism as the implantation dose increases from 2*10^16 ions/cm2 to 1*10^17 ions/cm2. A sudden decrease in the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity is counterbalanced by the increase in the side-jump induced SHE efficiency. These results conclude that studying θ_DL as a function of implantation dose, and also as a function of temperature, is important to understand the physical mechanism contributing to SHE, which has so far been unexplored in incorporating non-metallic element in 5d transition metals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Active Magnetoelectric Control of Terahertz Spin Current

Electrical control of photogenerated THz spin current pulses from a spintronic emitter has been at the forefront for the development of scalable, cost-efficient, wideband opto-spintronics devices. Artificially combined ferroelectric and ferromagnet heterostructure provides the potential avenue to control the spin dynamics efficiently utilizing the magnetoelectric coupling. The demonstration of the electric field control of spin dynamics has so far been limited up to gigahertz frequencies. Here, we demonstrate the electric field mediated piezoelectric strain control of photogenerated THz spin current pulse from a multiferroic spintronic emitter. The phase reversal of the THz spin current pulse is obtained from the combined effect of piezoelectric strain and a small constant magnetic field applied opposite to the initial magnetization of the ferromagnet. The piezoelectric strain-controlled phase switching of THz spin current thus opens a door to develop efficient strain engineered scalable on-chip THz spintronics devices.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Generalized Brewster-angle effect in thin-film optical absorbers and its application for graphene hydrogen sensing

Generalized Brewster angle (GBA) is the incidence angle at which polarization by reflection for p- and s-polarized light takes place. Realizing s-polarization Brewster effect requires a material with magnetic response which is challenging at optical frequencies since the magnetic response of materials at these frequencies is extremely weak. Here, we experimentally realize GBA effect in the visible using a thin-film absorber system consisting of a dielectric film on an absorbing substrate. Polarization by reflection is realized for both p- and s- polarized light at different angles of incidence and multiple wavelengths. We provide a theoretical framework for the generalized Brewster effect in thin-film light absorbers. We demonstrate hydrogen gas sensing using a single layer graphene film transferred on a thin-film absorber at the GBA with ~1 fg/mm2 aerial mass sensitivity. The ultrahigh sensitivity stems from the strong phase sensitivity near point of darkness, particularly at the GBA, and the strong light-matter interaction in planar nanocavities. These findings depart from the traditional domain of thin-films as mere interference optical coatings and highlight its many potential applications including gas sensing and biosensing.

physics.optics↗