Proximity-induced Rashba spin-orbit interaction in BaMnO$_\text{3}|$KTaO$_\text{3}$ heterostructure for antiferromagnetic spintronics

TL;DR

This paper proposes a heterostructure of BaMnO₃ and KTaO₃ that induces strong Rashba spin-orbit interaction in antiferromagnetic BaMnO₃ via proximity effects, potentially advancing antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Contribution

It demonstrates, through DFT calculations, how to induce Rashba interaction in antiferromagnetic BaMnO₃ using KTaO₃, providing a new pathway for spintronics device development.

Findings

BaMnO₃ bands near Fermi level with magnetic moments

Significant Rashba interaction observed in heterostructure

Proximity effect enables Rashba interaction in antiferromagnetic material

Abstract

Antiferromagnetic spintronics, a promising technology for ultra-fast electronic devices, faces several challenges, including the lack of materials simultaneously hosting robust antiferromagnetism and adequate Rashba-like interaction. We design a heterostructure of BaMnO$_3|$KTaO$_3$ with the idea of proximity-inducing strong Rashba spin-orbit interaction from KTaO$_3$ part to BaMnO$_3$ part, where the latter is already a robust antiferromagnet. Within our DFT calculations, the heterostructure reveals BaMnO$_3$ bands near the Fermi level with a significant magnetic moment per Mn atom and a decent ordering temperature. Further, the BaMnO$_3$ bands in the heterostructure exhibit linear Rashba interaction with a sizable Rashba coefficient, owing to its proximity to KTaO$_3$. Our work can motivate future research by demonstrating the road map to proximity-induced Rashba interaction for antiferromagnetic spintronics.