Origin of the anomalous Hall effect at the magnetic insulator/heavy metals interface

Ferrimagnetic insulators (FIMIs) are considered to be promising candidates in spin-orbit torque (SOT) devices due to their ability to propagate a spin current by magnons without Ohmic losses owing to the absence of electronic scattering. Moreover, any electrical current shunt is avoided in magnetic insulating materials. On the other hand, SOT-induced magnetization switching is generally measured through the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in FIMI/heavy metal (HM) systems. However, the origin of AHE in FIMI/HM remains elusive since charges flow only in the HM. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that the AHE has the same origin as the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR). To this end, we have studied two bilayer heterostructures, Tm3Fe5O12(TmIG)/W and TmIG/Pt, where we ensure opposite spin Hall effect (SHE) signs for two heavy metals (W and Pt). The magnitudes of AHE and SMR are found to be larger for TmIG/W than TmIG/Pt. We have also evidenced the identical polarity of AHE hysteresis in both systems revealing a square dependency on the spin Hall angle whereas the current-induced magnetization switching polarity in TmIG/W is opposite to that of TmIG/Pt as expected for opposite spin Hall angle signs. Our results establish that the AHE and the spin-Hall magnetoresistance in TmIG insulating ferromagnets and heavy metal bilayers originate from the same mechanism.

Automated summary

Ferrimagnetic insulators (FIMIs) are promising materials for spin-orbit torque (SOT) devices due to their ability to propagate a spin current without Ohmic losses. The origin of the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in FIMI/heavy metal (HM) systems has remained unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that the AHE and spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) in FIMI/HM bilayer heterostructures have the same origin.