Ab-initio GMR and current-induced torques in Au/Cr multilayers

TL;DR

This paper presents an ab-initio study of giant magnetoresistance and current-induced torques in Cr/Au multilayers, revealing significant GMR effects and the potential for low-current switching of antiferromagnetic order.

Contribution

It introduces a first-principles approach to analyze GMR and CITs in Cr/Au multilayers, highlighting interface resonance effects and low-current antiferromagnetic switching capabilities.

Findings

Substantial GMR due to spin-dependent resonance at the Cr/Au interface

Strong CITs capable of switching antiferromagnetic order at low current densities

Potential for low-power antiferromagnetic spintronic devices

Abstract

We report on an {\em ab-initio} study of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and current-induced-torques (CITs) in Cr/Au multilayers that is based on non-equilibrium Green's functions and spin density functional theory. We find substantial GMR due primarily to a spin-dependent resonance centered at the Cr/Au interface and predict that the CITs are strong enough to switch the antiferromagnetic order parameter at current-densities $\sim 100$ times smaller than typical ferromagnetic metal circuit switching densities.