Facilitating field-free perpendicular magnetization switching with a Berry curvature dipole in a Weyl semimetal
We report the synergy between orbital and spin-orbit torques in ${\mathrm{WTe}}_{2}/{\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}{\mathrm{GeTe}}_{2}$ heterostructures characterized by a Berry curvature dipole. By applying a current along the $a$ axis in ${\mathrm{WTe}}_{2}$, we detect an out-of-plane magnetization in the system, which we attribute to nonequilibrium orbital magnetization linked to the Berry curvature dipole based on first-principles calculations, manifesting as the orbital Edelstein effect. This effect generates orbital torques that enable field-free perpendicular magnetization switching. Furthermore, by applying a relatively small current along the $a$ axis and a pulsed current along the $b$ axis in ${\mathrm{WTe}}_{2}$, we demonstrate controllable field-free magnetization switching of the adjacent ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}{\mathrm{GeTe}}_{2}$ layer, independently manipulating the orbital and spin-orbit torques. Our findings not only enhance the understanding of the collaborative dynamics between these torques but also suggest potential applications in magnetoresistive random-access memory.
Authors
- Wen-Zheng Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2725-429X)
- Zhen-Cun Pan
- Pengfei Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7328-4161)
- Takashi Taniguchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0017-7669)
- Zhi‐Min Liao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6361-9626)
- Xing-Guo Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7534-5650)
- Kenji Watanabe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3701-8119)
- X. Y. Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6905-0984)
- An-Qi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3660-9611)
- Dong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2740-7409)
Institutions
- Peking University (CN)
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
- Hefei University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. B./Physical review. B
- Published
- 2024-09-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.110.l100409
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.01
Funders
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science