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van der Waals layered magnetic semiconductors

Young Hee Lee

 

The ferromagnetic state in van der Waals two-dimensional (2D) materials has been reported recently in the monolayer limit. Intrinsic CrI3 and CrGeTe3 semiconductors reveal ferromagnetism but the Tc is still low below 60K. In contrast, monolayer VSe2 is ferromagnetic metal with Tc above room temperature but incapable of controlling its carrier density. Moreover, the long-range ferromagnetic order in doped diluted chalcogenide semiconductors has not been demonstrated at room temperature. The key research target is to realize the long-range order ferromagnetism, Tc over room temperature, and semiconductor with gate tunability. Here, Ferromagnetic order is manifested using magnetic force microscopy up to 360K, while retaining high on/off current ratio of ~105 at 0.1% V-doping concentration. The V-substitution to W siteskeep a V-V separation distance of 5 nm without V-V aggregation, scrutinized by high-resolution scanning transmission-electron-microscopy. More importantly, the ferromagnetic order is clearly modulated by applying a back gate. We also observe a ferromagnetic hysteresis loop together with oscillatory behavior at room temperature in diluted V-doped WSe2, while maintaining the semiconducting characteristic of WSe2 with a high on/off current ratio of five orders of magnitude. Our findings open new opportunities for using two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides for future spintronics.

On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 15 July 2020 - 15:00 (CET)

Crystal time-reversal symmetry breaking and spin splitting in collinear antiferromagnets

Libor Šmejkal, JGU, Mainz

Relativistic bandstructure of solids generates functionalities of modern quantum, topological and spintronics materials. Common collinear antiferromagnets exhibit Kramers spin degenerate bands and for many decades were believed to be excluded from spin splitting physics and spontaneous Hall effects. Our recent prediction of crystal time-reversal symmetry breaking by anisotropic magnetization densities (see picture) due to the collinear antiferromagnetism combined with nonmagnetic atoms changes this perspective. Unlike the conventional relativistic spin-orbit interaction induced spin splitting, our crystal antiferromagnetic spin splitting is of exchange origin, can reach giant eV values, and can preserve spin quantum number.
In this talk, we will discuss the basic properties of this new type of antiferromagnetic spin splitting, its local magnetic symmetry origin and symmetry criteria for its emergence and we will catalogue broad class of material candidates. Furthermore, we will show that this antiferromagnetic spin splitting can generate a crystal Hall effect controllable via rearrangement of nonmagnetic atoms. Finally, we will present an experimental discovery of crystal Hall effect in ruthenium dioxide antiferromagnet.

 

 

Šmejkal, L., Mokrousov, Y., Yan, B. & MacDonald, A. H. Topological antiferromagnetic spintronics. Nat. Phys. 14, 242 (2018).
Šmejkal, L., Železný, J., Sinova, J. & Jungwirth, T. Electric Control of Dirac Quasiparticles by Spin-Orbit Torque in an Antiferromagnet. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 106402 (2017), arXiv (2016)
Šmejkal, L., González-Hernández, R., Jungwirth, T. & Sinova, J. Crystal time-reversal symmetry breaking and spontaneous Hall effect in collinear antiferromagnets. Sci. Adv. 6, eaaz8809 (2020), arXiv (2019)
Feng, Z.*, Zhou, X.*, Šmejkal, L.*, González-Hernández, R., Sinova, J., Jungwirth, T., Liu, Z. et al. Observation of the Crystal Hall Effect in a Collinear Antiferromagnet. arXiv (2020).

 

Defect-induced magnetism in a 2D noble metal dichalcogenide

Ahmet Avsar

EPFL

Defects are ubiquitous in solids and often introduce new properties that are absent in pristine materials especially at their low-dimensional limits [1]. For example, atomic-scale disorder in two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides is often accompanied by local magnetic moments, which can conceivably induce long-range magnetic ordering in these otherwise non-magnetic materials. In this talk, I will present magneto-transport properties of ultrathin PtSe2 crystals down to monolayer thickness and demonstrate the emergence of such extrinsic magnetism [2]. Electrical measurements supported by first-principles calculations and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy imaging of point defects show the existence of either ferromagnetic or anti-ferromagnetic ground state orderings depending on the number of layers in this ultra-thin material. By combining this defect-induced magnetism with unique thickness-dependent electronic properties of PtSe2 emerging from the strong coupling between layers [3], I will discuss its potential integration into several 2D spintronics device applications [4].

[1] D. Rhodes et al., Nat. Mater. 18, 541-549 (2019).
[2] A. Avsar et al., Nat. Nanotechnol., 14, 674-678 (2019).
[3] A. Ciarrocchi, A. Avsar, D. Ovchinnikov and A. Kis, Nat Commun., 9, 919 (2018).
[4] A. Avsar et al., Rev. Mod. Phys., 92 (2), 021003 (2020).

Inside Nature: Decisions & Editorial Process

Tobias Roedel

Nature

Scientific publishing is an integral part of the scientific endeavor. The number of publications has increased steadily over the last years due to a metrics-driven ‘publish-or-perish’ culture and an increase in research funding in certain countries. At Nature, we strive to filter only the most significant advances and to communicate their impact to a broad audience – beyond the specialized community. Our assessment of significance is based on objective criteria, but our final decisions are not devoid of subjectivity. As our editorial decisions can be controversial, I will present the editorial process behind these decisions. Feel free to contact me at ‘tobias.roedel@nature.com’ if you have questions or criticism.

Spin systems in transition metal phosphous trichalcogenide van der Waals materials

Efrat Lifshitz

Technion

Magnetism is a topic of a wide interest since the discoveries of motors/generators, through magneto-resistance and up to modern times, where low dimensional materials offer a support for new magnetic phenomena. The talk will focus on the influence of magnetic moments and magnetism on the optical magneto-properties of semiconductors in an ultimate two-dimensional limit found in van der Waals transition metal phosphorous tri-chalcogenides. A few types of magnetic properties will be discussed: the long-range magnetic order, ferromagnetism, anti-ferromagnetism or special spin textures; an interfacial developed Rashba spin-orbit effect; nuclear spin Overhauser effect; magnetic polaron, all gaining special stabilization by the size confinement and a shape anisotropy. The mentioned intrinsic fields lead to a lift of energy or momentum degeneracy at band-edge states with selective spin orientation in the ground or/and excited state, being of a special interest in emerging technologies of spin-electronics and quantum computation. The lecture will include the study of long-range magnetic order and valley effects in single layer of metal phosphor tri-chalcogenide compounds. Metal phosphor tri-chalcogenides with the general chemical formula MPX3 (M=metal, X=chalcogenide) closely resembling the metal di-chalcogenides, but the metal being paramagnetic elements, while one-third of them are replaced by phosphor pairs. The metal ions within a single layer produce a ferromagnetic or anti-ferromagnetic arrangement, endowing those materials with unique magnetic and magneto-optical properties. Most recent magneto-optical measurements will be reported, exposing the existence of valley degree of freedom in a few MPX3 (e.g., FePS3, MnPS3), that reveals a protection of the spin helicity of each valley however, the coupling to an anti-ferromagnetism lifts the valleys' energy degeneracy. The phenomenon was also examined in magnetically doped diamagnetic MPX3 layers. The results indicated the occurrence of coupling between photo-generated carriers and magnetic impurities and the formation of magnetic polaron.

[1] A.K. Budniak, N.A. Killilea, S.J. Zelewski, M. Sytnyk, Y. Kauffmann, Y. Amouyal, R. Kudrawiec, W. Heiss, E. Lifshitz; Small, 2020, 16 (1), 1905924
[2] M. Shentcis, A.K. Budniak, R. Dahan, Y. Kurman, X. Shi, M. Kalina, H.H. Sheinfux, M. Blei, M.K. Svendsen, Y. Amouyal, F. Koppens, S. Tongay, K.S. Thygesen, E. Lifshitz, F.J.G. de Abajo, L.J. Wong, I. Kaminer; Under revision in Nature Photonics

On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 8 July 2020 - 15:00 (CET)

Towards deep neural networks with nanoscale spintronic oscillators as neurons

Julie Grollier, CNRS-Thales

Spintronic oscillators are nanoscale devices realized with magnetic tunnel junctions which have the potential to be integrated by hundreds of millions in electronic chips. Their non-linear dynamical properties are rich and tunable, and can be leveraged to imitate different features of biological neurons. High performance pattern recognition was achieved through the coupled dynamics of the oscillators in small circuits. The transient dynamics of a single spintronic nano-oscillator has been used to implement reservoir computing, achieving state-of-the-art results on a simple spoken digit recognition task [1], [2]. Four spintronic nano-oscillators have been trained to classify spoken vowels by phase locking their oscillations to the strong input signals produced by external microwave sources [3]. Three spintronic nano-oscillators did bind temporal data through their mutual synchronization [4].

These demonstrations now need to be scaled to deep networks to establish their potential definitely. The neocortex, the seat of higher cognitive functions in the brain, has a hierarchical structure of six layers of neurons. Adopting such a layered structure in artificial neural networks was the key to their fantastic progress in the last ten years. Neuromorphic systems need to be scalable to deep networks to truly establish their promises.

PDF file of the talk available here

A key asset of spintronic nano-oscillators towards this goal is their ability to emit radio-frequency (RF) signals. These oscillators indeed produce microwave voltages with varying amplitude and frequency in response to direct current inputs. They could therefore potentially communicate through radio-frequencies signals, allowing fully parallel operation with minimized wiring, at a speed seven orders of magnitude faster than the brain. But for this, it is necessary to devise radio-frequency synapses that can interconnect the oscillators.

In this talk, I will rapidly review recent results on neuromorphic computing with spintronic nano-oscillators. I will then describe how they can be interconnected layer-wise through RF spintronic nano-synapses, and present our recent simulation results of classification with these novel RF synapses.

[1]  J. Torrejon et al., « Neuromorphic computing with nanoscale spintronic oscillators », Nature, 547,  428‑431 (2017).
[2]   S. Tsunegi et al., « Physical reservoir computing based on spin torque oscillator with forced synchronization », Appl. Phys. Lett., 114,  164101 (2019).
[3]   M. Romera et al., « Vowel recognition with four coupled spin-torque nano-oscillators », Nature, 563, 230,(2018).
[4]   M. Romera et al., « Binding events through the mutual synchronization of spintronic nano-neurons », arXiv:2001.08044 (2020).

On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 1 July 2020 - 15:00 (CET)

Magnons as Probes of Strongly Correlated Electron Physics

Amir Yacoby, Harvard University

Scattering experiments have revolutionized our understanding of nature. Examples include the discovery of the nucleus, crystallography, and the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Scattering techniques differ by the type of the particles used, the interaction these particles have with target materials and the range of wavelengths used. Here, we demonstrate a new 2-dimensional table-top scattering platform for exploring magnetic properties of materials on mesoscopic length scales. Long lived, coherent magnonic excitations are generated in a thin film of YIG and scattered off a magnetic target deposited on its surface. The scattered waves are then recorded using a scanning NV center magnetometer that allows sub-wavelength imaging and operation under conditions ranging from cryogenic to ambient environment. While most scattering platforms measure only the intensity of the scattered waves, our imaging method allows for spatial determination of both amplitude and phase of the scattered waves thereby allowing for a systematic reconstruction of the target scattering potential. Our experimental results are consistent with theoretical predictions for such a geometry and reveal several unusual features of the magnetic response of the target, including suppression near the target edges and gradient in the direction perpendicular to the direction of surface wave propagation. Our results establish magnon scattering experiments as a new platform for studying correlated many-body systems.

PDF file of the talk available here

 

On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 24 June 2020 - 15:00 (CET)

Chiral spintronics: non collinear spin textures with application to Racetrack Memory

Stuart Parkin, Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics and
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle

Magnetic non-collinear spin textures that have chiral structures are of great current interest.  Coupled chiral domain walls in synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) racetracks and compensated ferrimagnets can be moved with current at very high speeds via a novel giant exchange torque1,2. When the antiferromagnetic coupling between two domain walls in a SAF racetrack is weakened unusual magnetization dynamics takes place due to chiral domain wall drag3. The same type of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DMI) vector exchange interactions that stabilize chiral Néel domain walls in magnetic multilayers results in the formation of topological spin textures in bulk compounds. We recently discovered magnetic antiskyrmions in a tetragonal inverse Heusler compound Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (LTEM) 4. The size of the anti-skyrmion can be tuned by varying the thickness of the host material allowing for sizes varying from nanometer to microns in the same material5.  This is due to long range magneto-dipole interactions that are important in this compound that has a complex DMI interaction with a symmetry that follows the D2d symmetry of its crystalline structure. The same symmetry ensures that anti-skyrmions are robust to temperature and magnetic field6. The magnetic dipole-dipole interactions also allow for the formation of metastable “elliptical skyrmions” in this same material7.  These have Bloch-like boundaries that we can directly observe using LTEM. Finally, we discuss our recent discovery of novel Néel like skyrmions in a metallic compound that exist almost to room temperature and that are also tunable in size8.  Chiral spin textures in ferro-, ferri- and anti-ferrimagnetic materials and thin film heterostructures are of fundamental interest with potential for spintronic applications.

PDF file of the talk available here

 

References

1  Yang, S.-H., Ryu, K.-S. & Parkin, S. S. P. Domain-wall velocities of up to 750 ms−1 driven by exchange-coupling torque in synthetic antiferromagnets. Nat. Nano. 10, 221-226, (2015).
2  Bläsing, R. et al. Exchange coupling torque in ferrimagnetic Co/Gd bilayer maximized near angular momentum compensation temperature. Nat. Commun. 9, 4984, (2018).
3  Yang, S.-H., Garg, C. & Parkin, S. Chiral Exchange Drag and Chirality Oscillations in Synthetic Antiferromagnets Nat. Phys. 15, 543–548, (2019).
4  Nayak, A. K. et al. Magnetic antiskyrmions above room temperature in tetragonal Heusler materials. Nature 548, 561-566, (2017).
5  Ma, T. et al. Tunable Magnetic Antiskyrmion Size and Helical Period from Nanometers to Micrometers in a D2d Heusler Compound. Adv. Mater., 2002043, (2020).
6  Saha, R. et al. Intrinsic stability of magnetic anti-skyrmions in the tetragonal inverse Heusler compound Mn1.4Pt0.9Pd0.1Sn Nat. Commun. 10, 5305, (2019).
7  Jena, J. et al. Elliptical Bloch skyrmion chiral twins in an antiskyrmion system. Nat. Commun. 11, 1115, (2020).
8  Srivastava, A. K. et al. Observation of Robust Néel Skyrmions in Metallic PtMnGa. Adv. Mater. 32, 1904327, (2020).

On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 17 June 2020 - 15:00 (CET)

Coherent Sub-Terahertz Spin Pumping from an Insulating Antiferromagnet

Enrique del Barco, University of Central Florida

Emerging phenomena, such as the spin-Hall effect (SHE), spin pumping, and spin-transfer torque (STT), allow for interconversion between charge and spin currents and the generation of magnetization dynamics that could potentially lead to faster, denser, and more energy efficient, non-volatile memory and logic devices. Present STT-based devices rely on ferromagnetic (FM) materials as their active constituents. However, the flexibility offered by the intrinsic net magnetization and anisotropy for detecting and manipulating the magnetic state of ferromagnets also translates into limitations in terms of density (neighboring elements can couple through stray fields), speed (frequencies are limited to the GHz range), and frequency tunability (external magnetic fields needed). A new direction in the field of spintronics is to employ antiferromagnetic (AF) materials. In contrast to ferromagnets, where magnetic anisotropy dominates spin dynamics, in antiferromagnets spin dynamics are governed by the interatomic exchange interaction energies, which are orders of magnitude larger than the magnetic anisotropy energy, leading to the potential for ultrafast information processing and communication in the THz frequency range, with broadband frequency tunability without the need of external magnetic fields.

PDF file of the talk available here

I will present evidence of sub-terahertz coherent spin pumping at the interface of a uniaxial insulating antiferromagnet MnF2 and platinum thin films, measured by the ISHE voltage signal arising from spin-charge conversion in the platinum layer. The ISHE signal depends on the chirality of the dynamical modes of the antiferromagnet, which is selectively excited and modulated by the handedness of the circularly polarized sub-THz irradiation (see figure). Contrary to the case of ferromagnets, antiferromagnetic spin pumping exhibits a sign dependence on the chirality of dynamical modes, allowing for the unambiguous distinction between coherent spin pumping and the thermally-driven, chirality-independent spin Seebeck effect. Our results open the door to the controlled generation of coherent pure spin currents with antiferromagnets at unprecedented high frequencies.

This work has been primarily supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant FA9550-19-1-0307.

References

  • Priyanka Vaidya, Sophie A. Morley, Johan van Tol, Yan Liu, Ran Cheng, Arne Brataas, David Lederman, and Enrique del Barco, Subterahertz spin pumping from an insulating antiferromagnet, Science 368, 160-165 (2020)

 

 

On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 10 June 2020 - 15:00 (CET)

Magnetic tunnel junctions and magnetic logic circuits driven by spin-orbit torques

Pietro Gambardella,

Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) enable the switching of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) in nonvolatile magnetic random access memories as well as the all-electrical operation of magnetic logic circuits based on domain wall manipulation. In this talk, I will present time-resolved measurements of magnetization reversal driven by SOTs in 3-terminal MTJ devices and discuss how the combination of SOT, spin transfer torque, and voltage control of magnetic anisotropy leads to reproducible sub-ns magnetization reversal with a very narrow spread of the switching time distributions [1]. Further, I will show how SOTs and the chiral coupling between neighbouring magnetic domains induced by the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction [2] allow for realizing an electrically-driven domain-wall inverter. Starting from this basic building block, it is possible to fabricate reconfigurable NAND and NOR logic gates, and therefore a complete family of logic gates, which perform operations with current-induced domain-wall motion [3]. Opportunities for scalable all-electric magnetic memories and memory-in-logic applications will be discussed.

PDF file of the talk available here

References

  • [1] Single-shot dynamics of spin-orbit torque and spin transfer torque switching in 3-terminal magnetic tunnel junctions, E. Grimaldi, V. Krizakova, G. Sala, F. Yasin, S. Couet, G. S. Kar, K. Garello and P Gambardella, Nat. Nanotech. 15, 111 (2020).
  • [2] Chirally Coupled Nanomagnets, Z. Luo, T. Phuong Dao, A. Hrabec, J. Vijayakumar, A. Kleibert, M. Baumgartner, E. Kirk, J. Cui, T. Savchenko, G. Krishnaswamy, L. J. Heyderman, and P. Gambardella, Science 363, 1435 (2019).
  • [3] Current-driven magnetic domain-wall logic, Z. Luo, A. Hrabec, T. P. Dao, G. Sala, S. Finizio, J. Feng, S. Mayr, J. Raabe, P. Gambardella, L. J. Heyderman, Nature 579, 214 (2020).

Figure 1. a, Scanning electron microscope image of a 3-terminal magnetic tunnel junction device with injection electrodes for spin-orbit torque (SOT) and spin transfer torque (STT) switching. b, Detail of the magnetic tunnel junction pillar and W current line. c, Electrical setup for the time-resolved measurements of the tunneling magnetoresistance during SOT and/or STT switching. d, Examples of ten different single-shot switching events induced by spin-orbit torques. Adapted from [1].