Antiferromagnetic anisotropy determination by spin Hall magnetoresistance

TL;DR

This paper proposes an electric method using spin Hall magnetoresistance to measure magnetic anisotropy in antiferromagnetic insulators by analyzing resistance changes in a platinum film under magnetic fields.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to determine antiferromagnetic anisotropy through resistance measurements influenced by spin Hall magnetoresistance in AFI/Pt systems.

Findings

Resistance of Pt depends on AFI N eel vector orientation.

Magnetic anisotropy can be extracted from resistance measurements.

Method applicable to realistic AFI/Pt systems like Pt/Cr2O3, Pt/NiO, and Pt/CoO.

Abstract

An electric method for measuring magnetic anisotropy in antiferromagnetic insulators (AFIs) is proposed. When a metallic film with strong spin-orbit interactions, e.g., platinum (Pt), is deposited on an AFI, its resistance should be affected by the direction of the AFI N eel vector due to the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR). Accordingly, the direction of the AFI N eel vector, which is affected by both the external magnetic field and the magnetic anisotropy, is reflected in resistance of Pt. The magnetic field angle dependence of the resistance of Pt on AFI is calculated by consider- ing the SMR, which indicates that the antiferromagnetic anisotropy can be obtained experimentally by monitoring the Pt resistance in strong magnetic fields. Calculations are performed for realistic systems such as Pt/Cr2O3, Pt/NiO, and Pt/CoO.