2015/12/31 by Soong‐Geun Je, Soong-Geun Je, Sang-Cheol Yoo +8
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Condensed matter physics #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Magnetic field #Magnetic properties of thin films #Magnetization #Materials science #Nanotechnology #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin-transfer torque #Thermodynamics #Thin film #Torque #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.167205
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 167205 (2017)
arxiv created 2017/04/12 · openalex publication_date 2017/04/20 · arxiv updated 2017/04/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Current-induced domain wall motion has drawn great attention in recent decades as the key operational principle of emerging magnetic memory devices. As the major driving force of the motion, the spin-orbit torque on chiral domain walls has been proposed and is currently extensively studied. However, we demonstrate here that there exists another driving force, which is larger than the spin-orbit torque in atomically thin Co films. Moreover, the direction of the present force is found to be the opposite of the prediction of the standard spin-transfer torque, resulting in the domain wall motion along the current direction. The symmetry of the force and its peculiar dependence on the domain wall structure suggest that the present force is, most likely, attributed to considerable enhancement of a negative nonadiabatic spin-transfer torque in ultranarrow domain walls. Careful measurements of the giant magnetoresistance manifest a negative spin polarization in the atomically thin Co films which might be responsible for the negative spin-transfer torque.