Antiferromagnetic spintronics: from memories to ultra-fast optics and topological transport

Tomas Jungwirth, Institute of Physics of the Science Academy of the Czech Republic

Fifty years ago, Louis Néel pointed out in his Nobel lecture that while interesting from theoretical viewpoint, antiferromagnets did not seem to have any applications. Indeed, the alternating directions of magnetic moments on individual atoms and the resulting zero net magnetization have made antiferromagnets hard to control by the magneto-recording tools common in ferromagnets. This has hindered both the research and utility of these abundant magnetic materials. Replacing magnetic fields with modern spintronic tools has recently prompted renewed research interest in antiferromagnets. Experimental studies in antiferromagnets have successfully adapted concepts from ferromagnetic spintronics for storing, writing, and reading information. Besides electronic memory devices, antiferromagnetic spintronics has also demonstrated its utility in the research of ultra-fast optical manipulation of magnets or topological magneto-transport. In the talk we will give an overview of these diverse areas of the emerging field of antiferromagnetic spintronics.

PDF file of the talk available here

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