Spin-transfer-torque through antiferromagnetic IrMn

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that spin-transfer torque can be exerted on antiferromagnetic IrMn layers, influencing adjacent ferromagnetic layers, with implications for spintronic device control and interface engineering.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence that spin torque interacts with antiferromagnetic IrMn, revealing its potential for manipulation similar to ferromagnetic materials.

Findings

Spin current interacts with IrMn magnetic moments.

Spin torque affects the damping in the ferromagnetic layer.

Degradation of exchange bias reduces torque efficiency.

Abstract

Spin-transfer-torque, a transfer of angular momentum between the electron spin and the local magnetic moments, is a promising and key mechanism to control ferromagnetic materials in modern spintronic devices . However, much less attention has been paid to the same effect in antiferromagnets. For the sake of investigating how the spin current interacts with the magnetic moments in antiferromagnets, we perform spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance measurements on Co20Fe60B20 4nm/Ir25Mn75 tIrMn nm/Pt 4 nm multilayers under a spin Hall effect of Pt. The effective magnetic damping in Co20Fe60B20 is modified by the spin current injected from the Pt layer via the IrMn layer. The results indicate that the spin current interacts with IrMn magnetic moments and exerts the anti-damping torque on the magnetic moments of Co20Fe60B20 through the IrMn. It is also found that the reduction of the exchange bias in the IrMn/Pt interface degrades the anti-damping torque exerted on the Co20Fe60B20 layer, suggesting the transmission of the spin torque becomes less efficient as the interface exchange coupling degrades. Our work infers that the magnetic moments in IrMn can be manipulated by spin torque similarly to the one in a ferromagnetic layer.