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Title: Highly Efficient Room‐Temperature Spin‐Orbit‐Torque Switching in a Van der Waals Heterostructure of Topological Insulator and Ferromagnet

Journal Article · · Advanced Science
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [2];  [2];  [5]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Department of Physics Pohang University of Science and Technology Pohang 37673 Republic of Korea, Center for Artificial Low Dimensional Electronic Systems Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Pohang 37673 Republic of Korea
  2. Department of Physics Pohang University of Science and Technology Pohang 37673 Republic of Korea
  3. Center for Complex Phase of Materials Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative Pohang 37673 Republic of Korea, Laboratory for Pohang Emergent Materials Department of Physics, POSTECH Pohang 37673 Republic of Korea
  4. Center for Complex Phase of Materials Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative Pohang 37673 Republic of Korea, Laboratory for Pohang Emergent Materials Department of Physics, POSTECH Pohang 37673 Republic of Korea, Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy Rutgers University Piscataway NJ 08854 USA
  5. Device Research Center Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd 130 Samsung‐ro, Yeongtong‐gu, Suwon‐si Gyeonggi‐do 16678 Republic of Korea

Abstract All‐Van der Waals (vdW)‐material‐based heterostructures with atomically sharp interfaces offer a versatile platform for high‐performing spintronic functionalities at room temperature. One of the key components is vdW topological insulators (TIs), which can produce a strong spin‐orbit‐torque (SOT) through the spin‐momentum locking of their topological surface state (TSS). However, the relatively low conductance of the TSS introduces a current leakage problem through the bulk states of the TI or the adjacent ferromagnetic metal layers, reducing the interfacial charge‐to‐spin conversion efficiency ( q ICS ). Here, a vdW heterostructure is used consisting of atomically‐thin layers of a bulk‐insulating TI Sn‐doped Bi 1.1 Sb 0.9 Te 2 S 1 and a room‐temperature ferromagnet Fe 3 GaTe 2, to enhance the relative current ratio on the TSS up to ≈20%. The resulting q ICS reaches ≈1.65 nm −1 and the critical current density J c ≈0.9 × 10 6  Acm −2 at 300 K, surpassing the performance of TI‐based and heavy‐metal‐based SOT devices. These findings demonstrate that an all‐vdW heterostructure with thickness optimization offers a promising platform for efficient current‐controlled magnetization switching at room temperature.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
DE‐FG02‐07ER46382
OSTI ID:
2327031
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2327032
Journal Information:
Advanced Science, Journal Name: Advanced Science; ISSN 2198-3844
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English

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