# Electrical N\'eel-order switching in magnetron-sputtered CuMnAs thin films

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that magnetron-sputtered CuMnAs thin films can be electrically switched via N9el-order spin-orbit torque, showing potential for industry-compatible antiferromagnetic spintronic devices with fast, reliable control.

## Contribution

It shows that CuMnAs films grown by magnetron sputtering can be electrically switched, expanding fabrication options for antiferromagnetic spintronics beyond molecular beam epitaxy.

## Key findings

- Switching efficiency depends on temperature, current density, and pulse width.
- Thermal-activation model describes the switching and relaxation behavior.
- Magnetron sputtering is a viable industry-compatible deposition method.

## Abstract

Antiferromagnetic materials as active components in spintronic devices promise insensitivity against external magnetic fields, the absence of own magnetic stray fields, and ultrafast dynamics at the picosecond time scale. Materials with certain crystal-symmetry show an intrinsic N\'eel-order spin-orbit torque that can efficiently switch the magnetic order of an antiferromagnet. The tetragonal variant of CuMnAs was shown to be electrically switchable by this intrinsic spin-orbit effect and its use in memory cells with memristive properties has been recently demonstrated for high-quality films grown with molecular beam epitaxy. Here, we demonstrate that the magnetic order of magnetron-sputtered CuMnAs films can also be manipulated by electrical current pulses. The switching efficiency and relaxation as a function of temperature, current density, and pulse width can be described by a thermal-activation model. Our findings demonstrate that CuMnAs can be fabricated with an industry-compatible deposition technique, which will accelerate the development cycle of devices based on this remarkable material.