High-speed domain wall racetracks in a magnetic insulator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates fast, efficient manipulation of magnetic domain walls in a ferrimagnetic insulator using spin-orbit torques, enabling potential applications in spintronic devices with high-speed domain wall racetracks.

Contribution

It reveals the structure and dynamics of domain walls in TmIG and TmIG/Pt bilayers, showing their controllability and the role of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.

Findings

Domain walls in TmIG are Néel with left-handed chirality.

Domain wall velocities reach up to 400 m/s.

Low current threshold of 5 x 10^6 A/cm^2 for domain wall flow.

Abstract

Recent reports of current-induced switching of ferrimagnetic oxides coupled to a heavy metal layer have opened realistic prospects for implementing magnetic insulators into electrically addressable spintronic devices. However, key aspects such as the configuration and dynamics of magnetic domain walls driven by electrical currents in insulating oxides remain unexplored. Here, we investigate the internal structure of the domain walls in Tm3Fe5O12 (TmIG) and TmIG/Pt bilayers and demonstrate their efficient manipulation by spin-orbit torques with velocities of up to 400 m s$^{-1}$ and minimal current threshold for domain wall flow of 5 x 10$^{6}$ A cm$^{-2}$. Domain wall racetracks embedded in TmIG are defined by the deposition of Pt current lines, which allow us to control the domain propagation and magnetization switching in selected regions of an extended magnetic layer. Scanning nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry reveals that the domain walls of thin TmIG films are N\'eel walls with left-handed chirality, with the domain wall magnetization rotating towards an intermediate N\'eel-Bloch configuration upon deposition of Pt. These results indicate the presence of a sizable interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in TmIG, which leads to novel possibilities to control the formation of chiral spin textures in magnetic insulators. Ultimately, domain wall racetracks provide an efficient scheme to pattern the magnetic landscape of TmIG in a fast and reversible way