Spin-Orbit Torque Driven Chiral Domain Wall Motion in Mn3Sn

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates rapid, low-current spin-orbit torque-driven chiral domain wall motion in Mn3Sn, revealing unique mechanisms and controllability for potential spintronic applications.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of chiral domain wall motion in Mn3Sn driven by spin-orbit torque, highlighting the influence of chirality, anisotropy, and external fields.

Findings

Achieved domain wall speeds over 545.3 m/s at low current density of 9×10^10 A/m^2.

Discovered that domain wall displacement depends on chirality and current direction.

Showed external fields can effectively control domain wall velocity.

Abstract

Noncollinear chiral antiferromagnets, such as Mn3X (X = Sn, Ge), have garnered significant interest in spintronics due to their topologically protected Weyl nodes and large momentum-space Berry curvatures. In this study, we report rapid chirality domain-wall (CDW) motion in Mn3Sn, driven by spin-orbit torque at over 545.3 m.s^-1 a remarkably low current density of 9 10^10 A.m^-2. The results demonstrate that the chirality of the domain wall and the direction of the current collectively determine the displacement direction of the CDW. Theoretically, we provide ananalysis of the effective field experienced by the octupole moment, uncovering the underlying motion mechanism based on the unique profile of the chiral spin structure. Notably, CDWs with opposite chirality can form within the same Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction sample, and the Neel-like CDW type is dictated by the orientation of the kagome plane rather than the negligible magnetostatic energy associated with the small magnetization (approximately 3.957 10^-3). Additionally, the CDW, with a considerable width of 770 nm, is segmented into three 60 portions due to the six-fold anisotropy in Mn3Sn. These emphasize that CDW motion in Mn3Sn cannot be quantitatively studied using ferromagnetic frameworks. We also demonstrate that a small external field can effectively regulate CDW velocity. Our comprehensive results and theoretical analysis provide crucial guidelines for integrating antiferromagnet CDWs into functional spintronic devices.