Science· 2012Q1
Spin-Torque Switching with the Giant Spin Hall Effect of Tantalum
- 4,083citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2012year
Short summary
Researchers report a giant spin Hall effect in beta-tantalum, enabling efficient spin-torque switching of ferromagnets at room temperature, a breakthrough for spintronic devices.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- A giant spin Hall effect was discovered in beta-tantalum.
- This effect enables efficient spin-torque switching of ferromagnets at room temperature.
- Switching was demonstrated on both out-of-plane and in-plane magnetized layers.
- A three-terminal device was implemented for switching and read-out.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Spin currents can apply useful torques in spintronic devices. The spin Hall effect has been proposed as a source of spin current, but its modest strength has limited its usefulness. We report a giant spin Hall effect (SHE) in β-tantalum that generates spin currents intense enough to induce efficient spin-torque switching of ferromagnets at room temperature. We quantify this SHE by three independent methods and demonstrate spin-torque switching of both out-of-plane and in-plane magnetized layers. We furthermore implement a three-terminal device that uses current passing through a tantalum-ferromagnet bilayer to switch a nanomagnet, with a magnetic tunnel junction for read-out. This simple, reliable, and efficient design may eliminate the main obstacles to the development of magnetic memory and nonvolatile spin logic technologies.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2012 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsPhysics and Astronomy