Chirality from Interfacial Spin-Orbit Coupling Effects in Magnetic Bilayers

Kyoung-Whan Kim, Hyun-Woo Lee, Kyung-Jin Lee, and M. D. Stiles
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 216601 – Published 19 November 2013
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Abstract

As nanomagnetic devices scale to smaller sizes, spin-orbit coupling due to the broken structural inversion symmetry at interfaces becomes increasingly important. Here, we study interfacial spin-orbit coupling effects in magnetic bilayers using a simple Rashba model. The spin-orbit coupling introduces chirality into the behavior of the electrons and through them into the energetics of the magnetization. In the derived form of the magnetization dynamics, all of the contributions that are linear in the spin-orbit coupling follow from this chirality, considerably simplifying the analysis. For these systems, an important consequence is a correlation between the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and the spin-orbit torque. We use this correlation to analyze recent experiments.

  • Figure
  • Received 12 July 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.216601

© 2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Kyoung-Whan Kim1,2, Hyun-Woo Lee2,*, Kyung-Jin Lee3,4, and M. D. Stiles5

  • 1Basic Science Research Institute, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea
  • 2Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea
  • 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea
  • 4KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Korea
  • 5Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6202, USA

  • *hwl@postech.ac.kr

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Vol. 111, Iss. 21 — 22 November 2013

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