Measuring and tailoring the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in perpendicularly magnetized thin films

Hrabec, A., Porter, N. A., Wells, A., Benitez Romero, M. J., Burnell, G., McVitie, S. , McGrouther, D. , Moore, T. A. and Marrows, C. H. (2014) Measuring and tailoring the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in perpendicularly magnetized thin films. Physical Review B, 90(2), 020402(R). (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.90.020402)

Abstract

We investigate the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMIs) in perpendicularly magnetized thin films of Pt/Co/Pt and Pt/Co/Ir/Pt. To study the effective DMI, arising at either side of the ferromagnet, we use a field-driven domain wall creep-based method. The use of only magnetic field removes the possibility of mixing with current-related effects such as spin Hall effect or Rashba field, as well as the complexity arising from lithographic patterning. Inserting an ultrathin layer of Ir at the top Co/Pt interface allows us to access the DMI contribution from the top Co/Pt interface. We show that the insertion of a thin Ir layer leads to reversal of the sign of the effective DMI acting on the sandwiched Co layer, and therefore continuously changes the domain wall structure from the right- to the left-handed Néel wall. The use of two DMI-active layers offers an efficient way of DMI tuning and enhancement in thin magnetic films. The comparison with an epitaxial Pt/Co/Pt multilayer sheds more light on the origin of DMI in polycrystalline Pt/Co/Pt films and demonstrates an exquisite sensitivity to the exact details of the atomic structure at the film interfaces.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McVitie, Professor Stephen and Benitez Romero, Dr Maria Jose and McGrouther, Dr Damien
• Authors: Hrabec, A., Porter, N. A., Wells, A., Benitez Romero, M. J., Burnell, G., McVitie, S., McGrouther, D., Moore, T. A., and Marrows, C. H.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Physical Review B
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 1098-0121
• ISSN (Online): 1550-235X
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2014 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Physical Review B 90(2):020402(R)
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
54798	1	Current-Driven Domain Wall Motion in Multilayer Nanowires	Stephen Mcvitie	Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/I013520/1	P&A - PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY