arXiv subjects

Wanjun Jiang

Publications and source records attributed to Wanjun Jiang.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Topology-Dependent Brownian Gyromotion of a Single Skyrmion

Non-interacting particles exhibiting Brownian motion have been observed in many occasions of sciences, such as molecules suspended in liquids, optically trapped microbeads, and spin textures in magnetic materials. In particular, a detailed examination of Brownian motion of spin textures is important for designing thermally stable spintronic devices which motivates the present study. In this Letter, through using temporally and spatially resolved polar magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy, we have experimentally observed the thermal fluctuation-induced random walk of a single isolated Néel-type magnetic skyrmion in an interfacially asymmetric Ta/CoFeB/TaOx multilayer. An intriguing topology dependent Brownian gyromotion behavior of skyrmions has been identified. The onset of Brownian gyromotion of a single skyrmion induced by the thermal effects, including a nonlinear temperature-dependent diffusion coefficient and topology-dependent gyromotion are further formulated based on the stochastic Thiele equation. The experimental and numerical demonstration of topology-dependent Brownian gyromotion of skyrmions can be useful for understanding the nonequilibrium magnetization dynamics and implementing spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Absence of Spin Hall Magnetoresistance in Pt/(CoNi)n multilayers

We systematically studied the magnetoresistance effect in a Pt/(CoNi)n multilayer system with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and the fcc (111) texture. The angular dependence of magnetoresistance, including high-order cosine terms, was observed in a plane perpendicular to the electrical current; this was attributed to the geometrical-size effects caused by crystal symmetry, the ordered arrangement of grains, and the anisotropic interface magnetoresistance effect caused by the breaking of the symmetry at interfaces. Based on the accuracy of our experimental results, the magnitude of spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) in Pt/(CoNi)n was expected to be below $1\times10^{-4}$. However, on evaluating the spin Hall angle of $\geq$ 0.07 for Pt using spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance measurements, the theoretical magnitude of SMR in our samples was estimated to exceed $7\times10^{-4}$. This absence of SMR in the experimental results can be explained by the Elliott-Yafet spin relaxation of itinerant electrons in the ferromagnetic metal, which indicates that the boundary conditions of the spin current in the heavy metal/ferromagnetic insulator may not be applicable to all-metallic heterostructures.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Thermal generation, manipulation and detection of skyrmions

Recent years have witnessed significant progresses in realizing skyrmions in chiral magnets1-4 and asymmetric magnetic multilayers5-13, as well as their electrical manipulation2,7,8,10. Equally important, thermal generation, manipulation and detection of skyrmions can be exploited for prototypical new architecture with integrated computation14 and energy harvesting15. It has yet to verify if skyrmions can be purely generated by heating16,17, and if their resultant direction of motion driven by temperature gradients follows the diffusion or, oppositely, the magnonic spin torque17-21. Here, we address these important issues in microstructured devices made of multilayers: (Ta_CoFeB_MgO)15, (Pt_CoFeB_MgO_Ta)15 and (Pt_Co_Ta)15 integrated with on-chip heaters, by using a full-field soft X-ray microscopy. The thermal generation of densely packed skyrmions is attributed to the low energy barrier at the device edge, together with the thermally induced morphological transition from stripe domains to skyrmions. The unidirectional diffusion of skyrmions from the hot region towards the cold region is experimentally observed. It can be theoretically explained by the combined contribution from repulsive forces between skyrmions, and thermal spin-orbit torques in competing with magnonic spin torques17,18,20,21 and entropic forces22. These thermally generated skyrmions can be further electrically detected by measuring the accompanied anomalous Nernst voltages23. The on-chip thermoelectric generation, manipulation and detection of skyrmions could open another exciting avenue for enabling skyrmionics, and promote interdisciplinary studies among spin caloritronics15, magnonics24 and skyrmionics3,4,12.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Compensated magnetic insulators for extremely fast spin-orbitronics

The fast spin dynamics provide many opportunities for the future communication and memory technologies. One of the most promising examples is the domain wall (DW) racetrack memory. To achieve fast device performances, the high-speed motion of DWs is naturally demanded that leaves antiferromagnets (AFMs) and compensated ferrimagnets (FIMs) as the promising materials. While controlling and probing the dynamics of DWs in AFMs remains challenging, the fast motion of DWs with velocities around 1500 m/s has been demonstrated in metallic FIMs. The velocity of DWs in metallic FIMs is, however, suppressed by the magnetic damping of conduction electrons, which motivates us to explore how fast DWs can move in insulating FIMs where the conduction electron is absent. In this work, through synthesizing compensated FIM insulator Gd3Fe5O12 thin films with a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, we demonstrate that the spin-orbit torque (SOT) induced motion of DWs along the Gd3Fe5O12/Pt racetrack can approach 6000 m/s. Our results show that the exceptionally fast motion of DWs can be achieved in compensated FIM insulators owing to small damping inherent to magnetic insulators, which could potentially facilitate the emerging ultrahigh-speed spintronic logics and racetrack memories by introducing insulating compensated FIMs as a new material platform.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Generation and Hall effect of skyrmions enabled via using nonmagnetic point contacts

To enable functional skyrmion based spintronic devices, the controllable generation and manipulation of skyrmions is essential. While the generation of skyrmions by using a magnetic geometrical constriction has already been demonstrated, this approach is difficult to combine with a subsequent controlled manipulation of skyrmions. The high efficiency of skyrmion generation from magnetic constrictions limits the useful current density, resulting in stochastic skyrmion motion, which may obscure topological phenomena such as the skyrmion Hall effect. In order to address this issue, we designed a nonmagnetic conducting Ti/Au point contact in devices made of Ta/CoFeB/TaOx trilayer films. By applying high voltage pulses, we experimentally demonstrated that skyrmions can be dynamically generated. Moreover, the accompanied spin topology dependent skyrmion dynamics, the skyrmion Hall effect is also experimentally observed in the same devices. The creation process has been numerically reproduced through micromagnetic simulations in which the important role of skyrmion-antiskyrmion pair generation is identified. The motion and Hall effect of the skyrmions, immediately after their creation is described using a modified Thiele equation after taking into account the contribution from spatially inhomogeneous spin-orbit torques and the Magnus force. The simultaneous generation and manipulation of skyrmions using a nonmagnetic point contact could provide a useful pathway for designing novel skyrmion based devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Electric field-induced creation and directional motion of domain walls and skyrmion bubbles

Magnetization dynamics driven by an electric field could provide long-term benefits to information technologies because of its ultralow power consumption. Meanwhile, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in interfacially asymmetric multilayers consisting of ferromagnetic and heavy-metal layers can stabilize topological spin textures, such as chiral domain walls, skyrmions, and skyrmion bubbles. These topological spin textures can be controlled by an electric field, and hold promise for building advanced spintronic devices. Here, we present an experimental and numerical study on the electric field-induced creation and directional motion of topological spin textures in magnetic multilayer films and racetracks with thickness gradient and interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction at room temperature. We find that the electric field-induced directional motion of chiral domain wall is accompanied with the creation of skyrmion bubbles at certain conditions. We also demonstrate that the electric field variation can induce motion of skyrmion bubbles. Our findings may provide opportunities for developing skyrmion-based devices with ultralow power consumption.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Skyrmions in Magnetic Multilayers

Symmetry breaking together with strong spin-orbit interaction give rise to many exciting phenomena within condensed matter physics. A recent example is the existence of chiral spin textures, which are observed in magnetic systems lacking inversion symmetry. These chiral spin textures, including domain walls and magnetic skyrmions, are both fundamentally interesting and technologically promising. For example, they can be driven very efficiently by electrical currents, and exhibit many new physical properties determined by their real-space topological characteristics. Depending on the details of the competing interactions, these spin textures exist in different parameter spaces. However, the governing mechanism underlying their physical behaviors remain essentially the same. In this review article, the fundamental topological physics underlying these chiral spin textures, the key factors for materials optimization, and current developments and future challenges will be discussed. In the end, a few promising directions that will advance the development of skyrmion based spintronics will be highlighted.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Insulating nanomagnets driven by spin torque

Magnetic insulators, such as yttrium iron garnet (Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$), are ideal materials for ultra-low power spintronics applications due to their low energy dissipation and efficient spin current generation and transmission. Recently, it has been realized that spin dynamics can be driven very effectively in micrometer-sized Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$/Pt heterostructures by spin-Hall effects. We demonstrate here the excitation and detection of spin dynamics in Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$/Pt nanowires by spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance. The nanowires defined via electron-beam lithography are fabricated by conventional room temperature sputtering deposition on Gd$_3$Ga$_5$O$_{12 }$ substrates and lift-off. We observe field-like and anti-damping-like torques acting on the magnetization precession, which are due to simultaneous excitation by Oersted fields and spin-Hall torques. The Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$/Pt nanowires are thoroughly examined over a wide frequency and power range. We observe a large change in the resonance field at high microwave powers, which is attributed to a decreasing effective magnetization due to microwave absorption. These heating effects are much more pronounced in the investigated nanostructures than in comparable micron-sized samples. By comparing different nanowire widths, the importance of geometrical confinements for magnetization dynamics becomes evident: quantized spin-wave modes across the width of the wires are observed in the spectra. Our results are the first stepping stones toward the realization of integrated magnonic logic devices based on insulators, where nanomagnets play an essential role.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Direct Observation of the Skyrmion Hall Effect

The well-known Hall effect describes the transverse deflection of charged particles (electrons or holes) in an electric-current carrying conductor under the influence of perpendicular magnetic fields, as a result of the Lorentz force. Similarly, it is intriguing to examine if quasi-particles without an electric charge, but with a topological charge, show related transverse motion. Chiral magnetic skyrmions with a well-defined spin topology resulting in a unit topological charge serve as good candidates to test this hypothesis. In spite of the recent progress made on investigating magnetic skyrmions, direct observation of the skyrmion Hall effect in real space has, remained elusive. Here, by using a current-induced spin Hall spin torque, we experimentally observe the skyrmion Hall effect by driving skyrmions from creep motion into the steady flow motion regime. We observe a Hall angle for the magnetic skyrmion motion as large as 15 degree for current densities smaller than 10 MA/cm^(2) at room temperature. The experimental observation of transverse transport of skyrmions due to topological charge may potentially create many exciting opportunities for the emerging field of skyrmionics, including novel applications such as topological selection.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Generation of magnetic skyrmion bubbles by inhomogeneous spin Hall currents

Recent experiments have shown that magnetic skyrmion bubbles can be generated and injected at room temperature in thin films [W. Jiang et al, Science vol. 349, 283 (2015)]. Here, we demonstrate, using micromagnetic modeling, that such skyrmions can be generated by an inhomogeneous spin Hall torque in the presence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMIs). In the experimental Ta/Co$_{20}$Fe$_{60}$B$_{20}$ thin films, the DMI is rather small; nevertheless, the skyrmion bubbles are stable, or at least metastable on observational time scales.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Mobile Néel skyrmions at room temperature: status and future

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures that exhibit many fascinating features. As compared to the well-studied cryogenic Bloch skyrmions in bulk materials, we focus on the room-temperature Néel skyrmions in thin-film systems with an interfacial broken inversion symmetry in this article. Specifically, we show the stabilization, the creation, and the implementation of Néel skyrmions that are enabled by the electrical current-induced spin-orbit torques. Towards the nanoscale Néel skyrmions, we further discuss the challenges from both material optimization and imaging characterization perspectives.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

All-electrical detection of spin dynamics in magnetic antidot lattices by the inverse spin Hall effect

The understanding of spin dynamics in laterally confined structures on sub-micron length scales has become a significant aspect of the development of novel magnetic storage technologies. Numerous ferromagnetic resonance measurements, optical characterization by Kerr microscopy and Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy and x-ray studies were carried out to detect the dynamics in patterned magnetic antidot lattices. Here, we investigate Oersted-field driven spin dynamics in rectangular Ni80Fe20/Pt antidot lattices with different lattice parameters by electrical means and compare them to micromagnetic simulations. When the system is driven to resonance, a dc voltage across the length of the sample is detected that changes its sign upon field reversal, which is in agreement with a rectification mechanism based on the inverse spin Hall effect. Furthermore, we show that the voltage output scales linearly with the applied microwave drive in the investigated range of powers. Our findings have direct implications on the development of engineered magnonics applications and devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

New pathways towards efficient metallic spin Hall spintronics

Spin Hall effects interconvert spin- and charge currents due to spin-orbit interaction, which enables convenient electrical generation and detection of diffusive spin currents and even collective spin excitations in magnetic solids. Here, we review recent experimental efforts exploring efficient spin Hall detector materials as well as new approaches to drive collective magnetization dynamics and to manipulate spin textures by spin Hall effects. These studies are also expected to impact practical spintronics applications beyond their significance in fundamental research.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

All electrical manipulation of magnetization dynamics in a ferromagnet by antiferromagnets with anisotropic spin Hall effects

We investigate spin-orbit torques of metallic CuAu-I-type antiferromagnets using spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance tuned by a dc-bias current. The observed spin torques predominantly arise from diffusive transport of spin current generated by the spin Hall effect. We find a growth-orientation dependence of the spin torques by studying epitaxial samples, which may be correlated to the anisotropy of the spin Hall effect. The observed anisotropy is consistent with first-principles calculations on the intrinsic spin Hall effect. Our work demonstrates large tunable spin-orbit effects in magnetically-ordered materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Driving and detecting ferromagnetic resonance in insulators with the spin Hall effect

We demonstrate the generation and detection of spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance in Pt/YIG bilayers. A unique attribute of this system is that the spin Hall effect lies at the heart of both the generation and detection processes and no charge current is passing through the insulating magnetic layer. When the YIG undergoes resonance, a dc voltage is detected longitudinally along the Pt that can be described by two components. One is the mixing of the spin Hall magnetoresistance with the microwave current. The other results from spin pumping into the Pt being converted to a dc current through the inverse spin Hall effect. The voltage is measured with applied magnetic field directions that range in-plane to nearly perpendicular. We find that for magnetic fields that are mostly out-of-plane, an imaginary component of the spin mixing conductance is required to model our data.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Blowing Magnetic Skyrmion Bubbles

Soap bubbles form when blowing air through a suspended thin film of soapy water and this phenomenon entertains children and adults alike. The formation of soap bubbles from thin films is accompanied by topological transitions, and thus the natural question arises whether this concept is applicable to the generation of other topological states. Here we show how a magnetic topological structure, namely a skyrmion bubble, can be generated in a solid state system in a similar manner. Beyond enabling the investigation of complex surface-tension driven dynamics in a novel physical system, this observation has also practical implications, since the topological charge of magnetic skyrmions has been envisioned as an information carrier for new data processing technologies. A main goal towards this end is the experimental creation and manipulation of individual mobile skyrmions at room temperature. By utilizing an inhomogeneous in-plane current in a system with broken inversion asymmetry, we experimentally blow magnetic skyrmion bubbles through a geometrical constriction. The presence of a spatially divergent spin-orbit torque gives rise to instabilities of the magnetic domain structures that are reminiscent of Rayleigh-Plateau instabilities in fluid flows. Experimentally we can determine the electric current versus magnetic field phase diagram for skyrmion formation and we reveal the efficient manipulation of these dynamically created skyrmions, including depinning and motion. The demonstrated current-driven transformation from stripe domains to magnetic skyrmion bubbles could provide additional avenues for implementing skyrmion-based spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Spin waves in micro-structured yttrium iron garnet nanometer-thick films

We investigated the spin-wave propagation in a micro-structured yttrium iron garnet waveguide of $40$ nm thickness. Utilizing spatially-resolved Brillouin light scattering microscopy, an exponential decay of the spin-wave amplitude of $(10.06 \pm 0.83)$ $μ$m was observed. This leads to an estimated Gilbert damping constant of $α=(8.79\pm 0.73)\times 10^{-4}$, which is larger than damping values obtained through ferromagnetic resonance measurements in unstructured films. The theoretically calculated spatial interference of waveguide modes was compared to the spin-wave pattern observed experimentally by means of Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Switching of perpendicular magnetization by spin-orbit torques in the absence of external magnetic fields

Magnetization switching by current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) is of great interest due to its potential applications for ultralow-power memory and logic devices. In order to be of technological interest, SOT effects need to switch ferromagnets with a perpendicular (out-of-plane) magnetization. Currently, however, this typically requires the presence of an in-plane external magnetic field, which is a major obstacle for practical applications. Here we report for the first time on SOT-induced switching of out-of-plane magnetized Ta/Co20Fe60B20/TaOx structures without the need for any external magnetic fields, driven by in-plane currents. This is achieved by introducing a lateral structural asymmetry into our devices during fabrication. The results show that a new field-like SOT is induced by in-plane currents in such asymmetric structures. The direction of the current-induced effective field corresponding to this new field-like SOT is out-of-plane, which facilitates switching of perpendicular magnets. This work thus provides a pathway towards bias-field-free SOT devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗