Current-induced torques and interfacial spin-orbit coupling

Published

December 19, 2013

Author(s)

Kyung-Jin Lee, H.-W. Lee, Aurelien Manchon, Mark D. Stiles, Paul M. Haney

Abstract

In bilayer systems consisting of an ultrathin ferromagnetic layer adjacent to a metal with strong spin-orbit coupling, an applied in-plane current induces torques on the magnetization. The torques that arise from spin-orbit coupling are of particular interest. Here, we calculate the current-induced torque in a Pt-Co bilayer to help determine the underlying mechanism. The details of the torque depend strongly on the layer thicknesses and the interface structure, providing an explanation for the wide variation in results found by different groups. The torque depends on the magnetization direction in a way similar to that found for a simple Rashba model. Artificially turning off the exchange spin splitting and separately the spin-orbit coupling potential in the Pt shows that the primary source of the "field-like" torque is a proximate spin-orbit effect on the Co layer induced by the strong spin-orbit coupling in the Pt.

Citation

Physical Review B

Volume

88

Issue

21

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.214417

Local Download

Keywords

Spin transfer torque, spin-orbit coupling

Citation

Lee, K. , Lee, H. , Manchon, A. , Stiles, M. and Haney, P. (2013), Current-induced torques and interfacial spin-orbit coupling, Physical Review B, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.214417, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=914557 (Accessed October 11, 2025)