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• Magnetization relaxation at different probe widths, sensing currents, and Hall geometries. • Current shunting, Joule heating, and current-induced SOT are responsible for coercivity response. • Dependence of domain wall propagation on probe widths. • Device behavior at different circumstances is crucial for practical use. The understanding of the characteristics of a magnetic layer in a different environment is crucial for any spintronics application. Before practical applications, thorough scrutiny of such devices is compulsory. Here we study such a potential Hall device of MgO-capped Hf/GdFeCo bilayer (FeCo-rich) for magnetization relaxation around nucleation fields at different voltage probe line widths and dc sensing currents. The device is characterized by anomalous Hall measurements in transverse and longitudinal Hall geometries for two different probe widths A (5 µ m) and B (1 µ m). The coercivities of the Hall loops (ρ xy - H and R xx - H) drop with increasing the sense current for both the probes. For probe B, the sharp and large drop in coercivity (ρ xy - H loops) at comparatively lower sensing currents is observed, which is attributed to the negligible current shunting and presence of pinning site at B caused by the patterning process. The average domain wall velocities at various sensing currents for probe B are found to be smaller than probe A, from the transverse and longitudinal Hall geometry magnetization relaxation measurements, which agrees with pinning sites and Joule heating effect at probe B. The notch position in the pattern and the longitudinal Hall resistance curve peak shape suggest the domain wall propagation direction from probe B to probe A in the current channel. This study highlights the domain wall propagation at different nucleation fields, sensing currents, and the Hall probe aspect ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the Hf/GdFeCo bilayer with the MgO cap layer for both rare earth (RE)-rich and transition metal (TM)-rich configurations of the ferrimagnetic sublattice in the presence of the perpendicular field. We study the coercivity using the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) technique by multiple measurements on the same sample. In the first set of measurements and at low electric currents, coercivity sharply drops because of the oxygen diffusion at the interface between MgO and GdFeCo when the AHE probe current is applied. During the subsequent measurements on the RE-rich sample, we observe a moderate decrease in coercivity at low currents and the coercivity increases in a high current range. Such nonlinear dependence of coercivity on electric current can be explained by the competing interplay of the spin–orbit torque (SOT) and the Joule heating effects. On the other hand, for the TM-rich case, the SOT effect is observed over a widely applied current range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the original manuscript,[1] there is an incorrect affiliation for our co-author (K. A. Zvezdin). REFERENCE 1 N. T. Hai, I. Kindiak, V. Yurlov, R. C. Bhatt, C.-M. Liao, L.-X. Ye, T.-h. Wu, K. A. Zvezdin, and J.-C. Wu, "Unusual behavior of coercivity in Hf/GdFeCo bilayer with MgO cap layer by electric current", AIP Advances 10, 105202 (2020).10.1063/5.0023636. [Extracted from the article]