2015/02/27 by Xuepeng Qiu, Kulothungasagaran Narayanapillai, Yang Wu +10 · 3 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Aerospace engineering #Characterization and Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles #Condensed matter physics #Engineering #Magnetic Field Sensors Techniques #Magnetic properties of thin films #Materials science #Nanotechnology #Orbit (dynamics) #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Thermodynamics #Torque #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.18
published as Nat. Nanotechnol., 10, 333-338 (2015) · arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1311.3032
openalex publication_date 2015/02/27 · arxiv created 2015/11/28 · arxiv updated 2015/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Spin transfer torques allow the electrical manipulation of the magnetization at room temperature, which is desirable in spintronic devices such as spin transfer torque memories. When combined with spin-orbit coupling, they give rise to spin-orbit torques which are a more powerful tool for magnetization control and can enrich device functionalities. The engineering of spin-orbit torques, based mostly on the spin Hall effect, is being intensely pursued. Here we report that the oxidation of spin-orbit torque devices triggers a new mechanism of spin-orbit torque, which is about two times stronger than that based on the spin Hall effect. We thus introduce a way to engineer spin-orbit torques via oxygen manipulation. Combined with electrical gating of the oxygen level, our findings may also pave the way towards reconfigurable logic devices.