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.