Symmetry-breaking Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya synthetic antiferromagnet interactions
Symmetry-breaking interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions in synthetic antiferromagnets

        
        
            
            
                
                    
                        
        Letter
    
    

                        Published: 03 June 2019
                    

                    
                    

                    

                    
                        
    Nature Materials

                        volume 18, pages 679–684 (2019)Cite this article
                    
                    
        
            
                
                    
                        15k Accesses
                    
                
                
                    
                        108 Citations
                    
                
                
                    
                        
                            55 Altmetric
                        
                    
                
                
                    Metrics details
                
            
        
    
                    
                

                
    
        Subjects
        
    

                
    
    

    
        
            
                This article has been updated
        
    
    

                
            

        
            AbstractThe magnetic interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in multilayered thin films can lead to chiral spin states, which are of paramount importance for future spintronic technologies1,2. Interfacial DMI typically manifests as an intralayer interaction, mediated via a paramagnetic heavy metal in systems lacking inversion symmetry3. Here we show that, by designing synthetic antiferromagnets with canted magnetization states4,5, it is also possible to observe direct evidence of the interfacial interlayer DMI at room temperature. The interlayer DMI breaks the symmetry of the magnetic reversal process via the emergence of non-collinear spin states, which results in chiral exchange-biased hysteresis loops. The spin chiral interlayer interactions reported here are expected to manifest in a range of multilayered thin-film systems, opening up as yet unexplored avenues for the development and exploitation of chiral effects in magnetic heterostructures6,7,8.

            

            
                
            

            
                
                
                
                
                    
                        This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
                    
                    
                

                

                Access options
                


                
                    
                        
                        

                    
                

                
    
    Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journalsGet Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription$29.99 / 30 dayscancel any timeSubscribe to this journalReceive 12 print issues and online access$259.00 per yearonly $21.58 per issueBuy this articlePurchase on SpringerLinkInstant access to full article PDFPrices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
  

    
    
        
    Additional access options:
    
        
            Log in
        
        
        
            Learn about institutional subscriptions
        
        
            Read our FAQs
        
        
            Contact customer support
        
    

    

                

                
                    
        
            
                Similar content being viewed by others
                
            
        
            
        
    
                
            

            
                Data availabilityAll data associated to this publication is available via Enlighten, the University of Glasgow public repository. All metadata for this publication is available via the following link: https://doi.org/10.5525/gla.researchdata.787. Code availabilityThe atomistic and macrospin Monte Carlo codes used for this study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.Change history24 June 2019In the original version of this article originally published, an oversight during the production process meant that ref. 16 was not updated from the preprint version; this has now been amended and the updated reference reads ‘Han, D.-S. Long-range chiral exchange interaction in synthetic antiferromagnets. Nat. Mater. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0370-z (2019)’.ReferencesWiesendanger, R. Nanoscale magnetic skyrmions in metallic films and multilayers: a new twist for spintronics. Nat. Rev. Mater. 1, 16044 (2016).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Sander, D. et al. The 2017 magnetism roadmap. J. Phys. D 50, 363001 (2017).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Hellman, F. et al. Interface-induced phenomena in magnetism. Rev. Mod. Phys. 89, 025006 (2017).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Ummelen, F. C. et al. Controlling the canted state in antiferromagnetically coupled magnetic bilayers close to the spin reorientation transition. Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 102405 (2017).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Fernandez-Pacheco, A. et al. Dynamic selective switching in antiferromagnetically-coupled bilayers close to the spin reorientation transition. Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 092408 (2014).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Lavrijsen, R. et al. Magnetic ratchet for three-dimensional spintronic memory and logic. Nature 493, 647–650 (2013).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Fernández-Pacheco, A. et al. Three dimensional nanomagnetism. Nat. Commun. 8, 15756 (2017).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Baltz, V. et al. Antiferromagnetic spintronics. Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 015005 (2018).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Woo, S. et al. Observation of room-temperature magnetic skyrmions and their current-driven dynamics in ultrathin metallic ferromagnets. Nat. Mater. 15, 501–506 (2016).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Boulle, O. et al. Room-temperature chiral magnetic skyrmions in ultrathin magnetic nanostructures. Nat. Nanotechnol. 11, 449–454 (2016).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Jué, E. et al. Chiral damping of magnetic domain walls. Nat. Mater. 15, 272–277 (2015).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Ryu, K.-S., Thomas, L., Yang, S.-H. & Parkin, S. Chiral spin torque at magnetic domain walls. Nat. Nanotechnol. 8, 527–533 (2013).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Levy, P. M. & Fert, A. Anisotropy induced by nonmagnetic impurities in Cu Mn spin-glass alloys. Phys. Rev. B 23, 4667–4690 (1981).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Crépieux, A. & Lacroix, C. Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interactions induced by symmetry breaking at a surface. J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 182, 341–349 (1998).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Vedmedenko, E. Y., Arregi, J. A., Riego, P. & Berger, A. Interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.10570 (2018).Han, D.-S. et al. Long-range chiral exchange interaction in synthetic antiferromagnets. Nat. Mater. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0370-z (2019).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Dupé, B., Hoffmann, M., Paillard, C. & Heinze, S. Tailoring magnetic skyrmions in ultra-thin transition metal films. Nat. Commun. 5, 4030 (2014).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Yang, H., Thiaville, A., Rohart, S., Fert, A. & Chshiev, M. Anatomy of Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction at Co/Pt interfaces. Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 267210 (2015).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Ives, A. J. R., Bland, J. A. C., Hicken, R. J. & Daboo, C. Oscillatory biquadratic coupling in Fe/Cr/Fe(001). Phys. Rev. B 55, 12428–12438 (1997).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Han, D. S. et al. Asymmetric hysteresis for probing Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. Nano Lett. 16, 4438–4446 (2016).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Pizzini, S. et al. Chirality-induced asymmetric magnetic nucleation in Pt/Co/AlOx ultrathin microstructures. Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 047203 (2014).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Lee, J.-H. et al. Domain imaging during soliton propagation in a 3D magnetic ratchet. SPIN 03, 1340013 (2013).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Kisielewski, M. et al. Drastic changes of the domain size in an ultrathin magnetic film. J. Appl. Phys. 93, 6966–6968 (2003).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Kimura, T., Lashley, J. C. & Ramirez, A. P. Inversion-symmetry breaking in the noncollinear magnetic phase of the triangular-lattice antiferromagnet CuFeO2. Phys. Rev. B 73, 220401 (2006).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Ferré, J. et al. Magnetization-reversal processes in an ultrathin Co/Au film. Phys. Rev. B 55, 15092–15102 (1997).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Liu, Y., Zhou, B. & Zhu, J.-G. Field-free magnetization switching by utilizing the Spin Hall effect and interlayer exchange coupling of iridium. Sci. Rep. 9, 325 (2019).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Romming, N. et al. Competition of Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya and higher-order exchange interactions in Rh/Fe atomic bilayers on Ir(111). Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 207201 (2018).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Shahbazi, K. et al. Domain-wall motion and interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions in Pt/Co /Ir(t
                           Ir)/Ta multilayers. Phys. Rev. B 99, 094409 (2019).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Di, K. et al. Asymmetric spin–wave dispersion due to Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in an ultrathin Pt/CoFeB film. Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 052403 (2015).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Wiese, N. et al. Antiferromagnetically coupled CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB trilayers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 2020 (2004).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Lavrijsen, R. et al. Tuning the interlayer exchange coupling between single perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB layers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 052411 (2012).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Raanaei, H. et al. Imprinting layer specific magnetic anisotropies in amorphous multilayers. J. Appl. Phys. 106, 023918 (2009).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Kang, S. P. et al. The spin structures of interlayer coupled magnetic films with opposite chirality. Sci. Rep. 8, 2361 (2018).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Eyrich, C. et al. Exchange stiffness in thin film Co alloys. J. Appl. Phys. 111, 07C919 (2012).Article 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Perini, M. et al. Domain walls and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in epitaxial Co/Ir(111) and Pt/Co/Ir(111). Phys. Rev. B 97, 184425 (2018).Article 
    CAS 
    
                    Google Scholar 
                Download referencesAcknowledgementsThe authors acknowledge discussions with N. Jaouen, S. Stanescu and A. Hierro-Rodríguez, as well as experimental support from D. Sanz Hernández, A. Welbourne, P. Seem and I. Farrer. A.F.-P. acknowledges funding from an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship EP/M008517/1 and from the Winton Program for the Physics of Sustainability. E.V. acknowledges support from the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 665095 (MAGicSky), and D.P. and R.P.C. acknowledge from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. F.U. acknowledges support from the Erasmus Mobility programme.Author informationAuthors and AffiliationsSUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UKAmalio Fernández-PachecoCavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UKAmalio Fernández-Pacheco, Fanny Ummelen, Rhodri Mansell, Dorothée Petit & Russell P. CowburnInstitute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, GermanyElena VedmedenkoTechnical University of Eindhoven, Eindhoven, the NetherlandsFanny UmmelenDepartment of Applied Physics, Aalto University School of Science, Aalto, FinlandRhodri MansellAuthorsAmalio Fernández-PachecoYou can also search for this author in
                        PubMed Google ScholarElena VedmedenkoYou can also search for this author in
                        PubMed Google ScholarFanny UmmelenYou can also search for this author in
                        PubMed Google ScholarRhodri MansellYou can also search for this author in
                        PubMed Google ScholarDorothée PetitYou can also search for this author in
                        PubMed Google ScholarRussell P. CowburnYou can also search for this author in
                        PubMed Google ScholarContributionsA.F.-P. designed and carried out the experiments, grew the samples, analysed the data, carried out the Monte Carlo macrospin simulations and wrote the manuscript. E.V. performed the analytical calculations, carried out the atomistic Monte Carlo simulations and analysed the data derived from them, and wrote the manuscript. F.U. grew samples and analysed data. R.M. contributed to the experimental characterization of the samples. All authors discussed and contributed to the interpretation of the results, as well as to the writing of the manuscript.Corresponding authorsCorrespondence to
                Amalio Fernández-Pacheco or Elena Vedmedenko.Ethics declarations
              
                Competing interests
                The authors declare no competing interests.
              
            Additional informationPublisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary informationRights and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleFernández-Pacheco, A., Vedmedenko, E., Ummelen, F. et al. Symmetry-breaking interlayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions in synthetic antiferromagnets.
                    Nat. Mater. 18, 679–684 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0386-4Download citationReceived: 09 November 2018Accepted: 18 April 2019Published: 03 June 2019Issue Date: July 2019DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0386-4
            

            
        
                This article is cited by
                
            
    

        


                Associated content
                
                    
                        
                    
                    
                        
                            
    
        
                
                    Bridging the gap
                
                

    Bartel Van Waeyenberge


                
    Nature Materials
        
        News & Views
        
        
            19 Jun 2019
        
    

            
    


                        
                    
                
            