Interlayer Couplings Mediated by Antiferromagnetic Magnons

Ran Cheng, Di Xiao, and Jian-Gang Zhu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 207202 – Published 16 November 2018

Abstract

Collinear antiferromagnets (AFs) support two degenerate magnon excitations carrying opposite spin polarizations, by which magnons can function as electrons in various spin-related phenomena. In an insulating ferromagnet(F)/AF/F trilayer, we explore the magnon-mediated interlayer coupling by calculating the magnon thermal energy in the AF as a function of the orientations of the Fs. The effect manifests as an interlayer exchange interaction and a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; they both depend on temperature and the AF thickness. In particular, the exchange interaction turns out to be antiferromagnetic at low temperatures and ferromagnetic at high temperatures, whose magnitude can be 10100μeV for nanoscale separations, allowing experimental verification.

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  • Received 21 February 2018
  • Revised 31 August 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.207202

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Ran Cheng1,2,3, Di Xiao1, and Jian-Gang Zhu2,1

  • 1Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
  • 2Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
  • 3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA

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Issue

Vol. 121, Iss. 20 — 16 November 2018

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