4.8 Article

Current-induced manipulation of exchange bias in IrMn/NiFe bilayer structures

Journal

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 12, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26678-x

Keywords

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Funding

  1. National Research Foundation of Korea [NRF-2015 M3D1A1070465, 2020R1A2C2010309]
  2. KAIST
  3. National Research Foundation of Korea [2020R1A2C2010309] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)

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Antiferromagnets show potential for spintronics due to their ability to be manipulated electrically without the need for heavy metal layers. Kang et al demonstrate electrical manipulation of exchange bias in IrMn/NiFe bilayers, providing a promising pathway for the development of nanoscale multi-level antiferromagnetic spintronic devices. This research highlights the potential for utilizing antiferromagnetic materials in next-generation ultrafast and high-density integration devices.
Antiferromagnets have great promise for spin-based information processing, offering both high operation speed, and an immunity to stray fields. Here, Kang et al demonstrate electrical manipulation of the exchange-bias, without the need for a heavy metal layer. The electrical control of antiferromagnetic moments is a key technological goal of antiferromagnet-based spintronics, which promises favourable device characteristics such as ultrafast operation and high-density integration as compared to conventional ferromagnet-based devices. To date, the manipulation of antiferromagnetic moments by electric current has been demonstrated in epitaxial antiferromagnets with broken inversion symmetry or antiferromagnets interfaced with a heavy metal, in which spin-orbit torque (SOT) drives the antiferromagnetic domain wall. Here, we report current-induced manipulation of the exchange bias in IrMn/NiFe bilayers without a heavy metal. We show that the direction of the exchange bias is gradually modulated up to +/- 22 degrees by an in-plane current, which is independent of the NiFe thickness. This suggests that spin currents arising in the IrMn layer exert SOTs on uncompensated antiferromagnetic moments at the interface which then rotate the antiferromagnetic moments. Furthermore, the memristive features are preserved in sub-micron devices, facilitating nanoscale multi-level antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.

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