Ultrafast magnetization reversal by picosecond electrical pulses

Yang, Yang; Wilson, Richard B.; Gorchon, Jon; Lambert, Charles-Henri; Salahuddin, Sayeef; Bokor, Jeffrey

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1603117

Title: Ultrafast magnetization reversal by picosecond electrical pulses

Journal Article · Fri Nov 03 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Science Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1603117· OSTI ID:1432218

Yang, Yang ^[1]; Wilson, Richard B. ^[2]; Gorchon, Jon ^[3]; Lambert, Charles-Henri ^[4]; Salahuddin, Sayeef ^[3];

^[3]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The field of spintronics involves the study of both spin and charge transport in solid-state devices. Ultrafast magnetism involves the use of femtosecond laser pulses to manipulate magnetic order on subpicosecond time scales. Here, we unite these phenomena by using picosecond charge current pulses to rapidly excite conduction electrons in magnetic metals. We observe deterministic, repeatable ultrafast reversal of the magnetization of a GdFeCo thin film with a single sub–10-ps electrical pulse. The magnetization reverses in ~10 ps, which is more than one order of magnitude faster than any other electrically controlled magnetic switching, and demonstrates a fundamentally new electrical switching mechanism that does not require spin-polarized currents or spin-transfer/orbit torques. The energy density required for switching is low, projecting to only 4 fJ needed to switch a (20 nm)³ cell. This discovery introduces a new field of research into ultrafast charge current–driven spintronic phenomena and devices.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1432218

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 11; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 91 works

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