2011, 476 (7539), pp.189-193 | Ioan Mihai Miron, Kevin Garello, Gilles Gaudin, Pierre-Jean Zermatten, Marius V. Costache, Stéphane Auffret, Sébastien Bandiera, Bernard Rodmacq, A. Schuhl, Pietro Gambardella
This paper reports the demonstration of perpendicular switching of a single ferromagnetic layer (a cobalt dot) driven by in-plane current injection at room temperature. The device consists of a thin cobalt layer with strong perpendicular anisotropy and Rashba interaction induced by asymmetric platinum and AlOx interface layers. The effective switching field is orthogonal to the direction of the magnetization and the Rashba field, consistent with spin accumulation induced by the Rashba interaction and spin-dependent mobility in non-magnetic semiconductors. The switching efficiency increases with the magnetic anisotropy of the cobalt layer and the oxidation of the aluminum layer, suggesting that the Rashba interaction plays a key role in the reversal mechanism. The authors construct a reprogrammable magnetic switch that can be integrated into non-volatile memory and logic architectures, demonstrating the potential of in-plane current switching for spintronic applications. The device is simple, scalable, and compatible with present-day magnetic recording technology.This paper reports the demonstration of perpendicular switching of a single ferromagnetic layer (a cobalt dot) driven by in-plane current injection at room temperature. The device consists of a thin cobalt layer with strong perpendicular anisotropy and Rashba interaction induced by asymmetric platinum and AlOx interface layers. The effective switching field is orthogonal to the direction of the magnetization and the Rashba field, consistent with spin accumulation induced by the Rashba interaction and spin-dependent mobility in non-magnetic semiconductors. The switching efficiency increases with the magnetic anisotropy of the cobalt layer and the oxidation of the aluminum layer, suggesting that the Rashba interaction plays a key role in the reversal mechanism. The authors construct a reprogrammable magnetic switch that can be integrated into non-volatile memory and logic architectures, demonstrating the potential of in-plane current switching for spintronic applications. The device is simple, scalable, and compatible with present-day magnetic recording technology.