TY - JOUR
T1 - Spin-torque generator engineered by natural oxidation of Cu
AU - An, Hongyu
AU - Kageyama, Yuito
AU - Kanno, Yusuke
AU - Enishi, Nagisa
AU - Ando, Kazuya
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by PRESTO-JST Innovative nano-electronics through interdisciplinary collaboration among material, device and system layers,' JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 26220604, 26103004, 26600078, Spin-RNJ, the Mitsubishi Foundation, the Asahi Glass Foundation, the Mizuho Foundation for the Promotion of Sciences and the Casio Science Promotion Foundation.
PY - 2016/10/11
Y1 - 2016/10/11
N2 - The spin Hall effect is a spin-orbit coupling phenomenon, which enables electric generation and detection of spin currents. This relativistic effect provides a way for realizing efficient spintronic devices based on electric manipulation of magnetization through spin torque. However, it has been believed that heavy metals are indispensable for the spin-torque generation. Here we show that the spin Hall effect in Cu, a light metal with weak spin-orbit coupling, is significantly enhanced through natural oxidation. We demonstrate that the spin-torque generation efficiency of a Cu/Ni81Fe19 bilayer is enhanced by over two orders of magnitude by tuning the surface oxidation, reaching the efficiency of Pt/ferromagnetic metal bilayers. This finding illustrates a crucial role of oxidation in the spin Hall effect, opening a route for engineering the spin-torque generator by oxygen control and manipulating magnetization without using heavy metals.
AB - The spin Hall effect is a spin-orbit coupling phenomenon, which enables electric generation and detection of spin currents. This relativistic effect provides a way for realizing efficient spintronic devices based on electric manipulation of magnetization through spin torque. However, it has been believed that heavy metals are indispensable for the spin-torque generation. Here we show that the spin Hall effect in Cu, a light metal with weak spin-orbit coupling, is significantly enhanced through natural oxidation. We demonstrate that the spin-torque generation efficiency of a Cu/Ni81Fe19 bilayer is enhanced by over two orders of magnitude by tuning the surface oxidation, reaching the efficiency of Pt/ferromagnetic metal bilayers. This finding illustrates a crucial role of oxidation in the spin Hall effect, opening a route for engineering the spin-torque generator by oxygen control and manipulating magnetization without using heavy metals.
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U2 - 10.1038/ncomms13069
DO - 10.1038/ncomms13069
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84991327465
VL - 7
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 13069
ER -