Effect of the oxide layer on current-induced spin-orbit torques in Hf|CoFeB|MgO and Hf|CoFeB|TaO{sub x} structures
- Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of Çukurova, Adana 01330 (Turkey)
We study the effect of the oxide layer on the current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in perpendicularly magnetized Hf|CoFeB|MgO (MgO-capped) or Hf|CoFeB|TaO{sub x} (TaO{sub x}-capped) structures. The effective fields corresponding to both the field-like and damping-like current-induced SOTs are characterized using electric transport measurements. Both torques are found to be significantly stronger in MgO-capped structures than those in TaO{sub x}-capped structures. The difference in field-like and damping-like SOTs in the different structures may be attributed to the different Rashba-like Hamiltonian, arising from the difference in the electric potential profiles across the oxide|ferromagnet interfaces in the two cases, as well as possible structural and oxidation differences in the underlying CoFeB and Hf layers. Our results show that the oxide layer in heavy-metal|ferromagnet|oxide trilayer structures has a very significant effect on the generated SOTs for manipulation of ferromagnetic layers. These findings could potentially be used to engineer SOT devices with enhanced current-induced switching efficiency.
- OSTI ID:
- 22415143
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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