2009/12/23 by A. C. Swaving, Swaving, A. C., R. A. Duine +1 · 2 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Magnetic Properties and Applications #Magnetic properties of thin films #Magneto-Optical Properties and Applications #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0912.4519
openalex publication_date 2009/12/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the influence of an electric current on a continuous non-collinear antiferromagnetic texture. Despite the lack of a net magnetic moment we find that the exchange interaction between conduction electrons and local magnetization generally results in current-induced torques that are similar in phenomenology to spin transfer torques in ferromagnets. We present the generalization of the non-linear sigma model equation of motion for the Néèl vector that includes these current-induced torques, and briefly discuss the resulting current-induced antiferromagnetic domain wall motion and spin-wave Doppler shift. We give an interpretation of our results using a unifying picture of current-induced torques in ferromagnets and antiferromagnets in which they are viewed as due to the current-induced spin polarization resulting from an effective spin-orbit coupling.