Oxide layer dependent orbital torque efficiency in ferromagnet/Cu/Oxide heterostructures

TL;DR

This study investigates how different oxide materials influence orbital torque efficiency at Cu/Oxide interfaces, revealing that interatomic interactions critically affect the orbital Rashba-Edelstein effect and torque variation.

Contribution

It systematically analyzes the dependence of orbital torque on oxide materials, highlighting the role of electronic interatomic interactions in determining torque efficiency.

Findings

Orbital torque varies by a factor of ~2 with different oxides.

Interatomic hopping between Cu and oxygen is crucial for torque.

Material factors influencing chiral orbital Rashba texture are identified.

Abstract

The utilization of orbital transport provides a versatile and efficient spin manipulation mechanism. As interest in orbital-mediated spin manipulation grows, we face a new issue to identify the underlying physics that determines the efficiency of orbital torque (OT). In this study, we systematically investigate the variation of OT governed by orbital Rashba-Edelstein effect at the Cu/Oxide interface, as we change the Oxide material. We find that OT varies by a factor of ~2, depending on the Oxide. Our results suggest that the active electronic interatomic interaction (hopping) between Cu and oxygen atom is critical in determining OT. This also gives us an idea of what type of material factors is critical in forming a chiral orbital Rashba texture at the Cu/Oxide interface.