Search

Spin-splitting antiferromagnets with spin-polarized band structures in momentum space have garnered intensive research attention due to their zero net magnetic moments, ultras fast spin dynamics as conventional antiferromagnets, and spin-polarized transport properties akin to ferromagnets, making them promising candidates for antiferromagnetic spintronics. However, unlike spin-torque switching of ferromagnets by electric current, efficient electric control of spin-splitting antiferromagnetic order remains challenges. In this work, we identify prototypes of multiferroic spin-splitting antiferromagnets, including BiFeO3, Fe2Mo3O8 and compensated ferrimagnet GaFeO3 with ferroelectric polarization as well as spin-polarized electronic structures. We establish design principles for the spin-splitting multiferroic antiferromagnets and compensated ferrimagnets, elucidating the band symmetry features in Brillouin zone. We demonstrate that the spin polarization in spin-splitting magnets, despite of zero net magnetic moment, can be switched by ferroelectric polarization, providing an efficient means of controlling the antiferromagnetic order. Our work may inspire future development of novel multiferroic functional magnets with zero magnetic moments and pave the way for their applications in magnetoelectric spintronic devices.

Ferromagnetic metals, with the potential to generate spin current with unconventional spin polarization via the spin Hall effect, offer promising opportunities for field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization and for the spin-orbit torque devices. In this study, we investigate two distinct spin Hall mechanisms in 3d ferromagnetic metals including spin-orbit coupling driven spin Hall effect in Fe, Co, Ni and their alloys, and non-relativistic spin Hall effect arising from anisotropic spin-polarized transport by taking L10-MnAl as an example. By employing first-principles calculations, we examine the temperature and alloy composition dependence of spin Hall conductivity in Fe, Co, Ni and their alloys. Our results reveal that the spin Hall conductivities with out-of-plane spin polarization in 3d ferromagnetic metals are at the order of 1000 \frac{\hbar}{2e} \left( \Omega \, \text{cm} \right)^{-1} at 300 K, but with a relatively low spin Hall angles around 0.01~0.02 due to the large longitudinal conductivity. For L10-MnAl(101), the non-relativistic spin Hall conductivity can reach up to 10000\frac{\hbar}{2e} \left( \Omega \, \text{cm} \right)^{-1}, with a giant spin Hall angle around 0.25 at room temperature. By analyzing the magnetization switching process, we demonstrate deterministic switching of perpendicular magnetization without an external magnetic field by using 3d ferromagnetic metals as spin current sources. Our work may provide an unambiguous understanding on spin Hall effect in ferromagnetic metals and pave the way for their potential applications in related spintronic devices.

Noncollinear antiferromagnets (nc-AFMs) have attracted increasing research attention in spintronics due to their unique spin structures and fascinating charge and spin transport properties. By using first-principles calculations, we comprehensively investigate the charge and spin Hall effects in representative noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn3Pt. Our study reveals that the Hall effects in nc-AFMs are critically dependent on the crystal facet orientation and temperature. For (001) orientated Mn3Pt, each charge and spin Hall conductivity element is comprised of both time reversal odd (T-odd) and even (T-even) contribution, associated with longitudinal conductivity, which leads to sizable and highly anisotropic Hall conductivity. The temperature dependence of charge and spin Hall conductivity has been elucidated by considering both phonon and spin disorder scattering. The scaling relations between Hall conductivity and longitudinal conductivity have also been investigated. The existence of prominent spin Hall effect in nc-AFMs may generate spin current with Sz spin polarization, which is advantageous for field free switching of perpendicular magnetization. Our work may provide unambiguous understanding on the charge and spin transport in noncollinear antiferromagnets and pave their way for applications in antiferromagnetic spintronics.

The spin Hall effect in nonmagnetic materials has been intensively studied and became one of the most crucial spin-charge conversion mechanism in spintronics. However, the spin Hall effect in ferromagnetic metals has been less investigated and remains unclear. In this work, we investigate the spin Hall effect in representative ferromagnetic alloy by using first-principles calculations. We first clarify the spin Hall effect into three different types including conventional (CSHE), spin anomalous (SAHE) and magnetic spin Hall effect (MSHE) and then calculate the corresponding spin Hall conductivity and spin Hall angle for (Fe, Co, Ni)Pt, NiFe and CoFe alloy. We find the above three spin Hall mechanisms do coexist in ferromagnetic metals. Particularly, for Pt-based ferromagnetic alloy, a sizable conventional and magnetic spin Hall angles comparable to that of Pt have been predicted. The remarkable unconventional spin Hall effect in ferromagnetic metal may enrich the spin-charge conversion phenomena. For instance, the spin current generated by remarkable MSHE with out-of-plane spin-polarization should be helpful for field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization through spin-orbit torque effect. This work may stimulate future studies on the spin Hall effect in ferromagnetic metals and pave their promising applications for spin-charge conversion devices in spintronics.

Magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) are essential for non-volatile magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) applications. Here, we report the observation of a large negative tunneling magneto-resistance (TMR) in the CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB system with an orthogonally-magnetized configuration. Through the thickness modulation of the MgO barrier, the negative TMR component can be enhanced up to 20% under a negative voltage bias. Moreover, the tunnel anisotropic magneto-resistance measurements unveil that the negative TMR component likely arises from the interfacial resonance states (IRS) in the minority band of the bottom ferromagnetic layer. Complementary first principle calculations further quantify the IRS location and strength with respect to the Fermi level position. Our work not only confirm the vital role of IRS in the electrical transport of MTJ, but also provide valuable insights for the design of new-generation voltage-controlled MRAM and related spintronic applications.

Recently, van der Waals (vdW) magnetic heterostructures have received increasing research attention in spintronics. However, the lack of room-temperature magnetic order of vdW material has largely impedes its development in practical spintronics devices. Inspired by the recently discovered vdW ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2, which has been shown to have magnetic order above room temperature and sizable perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, we investigate the basic electronic structure and magnetic properties of Fe3GaTe2 as well as tunneling magnetoresistance effect in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with structure of Fe3GaTe2/Insulator/Fe3GaTe2 by using first-principles calculations. It is found that Fe3GaTe2 with highly spin-polarized Fermi surface ensures that such magnetic tunnel junctions may have prominent tunneling magnetoresistance effect at room temperature even comparable to existing conventional AlOx and MgO-based MTJs. Our results suggest that Fe3GaTe2-based MTJs may be the promising candidate for realizing long-waiting full magnetic vdW spintronic devices.

Antiferromagnetic (AFM) spintronics has emerged as a subfield of spintronics driven by the advantages of antiferromagnets producing no stray fields and exhibiting ultrafast magnetization dynamics. The efficient method to detect an AFM order parameter, known as the N\'eel vector, by electric means is critical to realize concepts of AFM spintronics. Here, we demonstrate that non-collinear AFM metals, such as Mn3Sn, exhibit a momentum dependent spin polarization which can be exploited in AFM tunnel junctions to detect the N\'eel vector. Using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we predict a tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect as high as 300% in AFM tunnel junctions with Mn3Sn electrodes, where the junction resistance depends on the relative orientation of their N\'eel vectors and exhibits four non-volatile resistance states. We argue that the spin-split band structure and the related TMR effect can also be realized in other non-collinear AFM metals like Mn3Ge, Mn3Ga, Mn3Pt, and Mn3GaN. Our work provides a robust method for detecting the N\'eel vector in non-collinear antiferromagnets via the TMR effect, which may be useful for their application in AFM spintronic devices.

How to efficiently manipulate the N\'eel vector of antiferromagnets (AFM) by electric methods is one of the major focuses in current antiferromagnetic spintronics. In this work, we investigated the ferroelectric control of magnetism in AFM L10-MnPt/BaTiO3 bilayers structures by using first-principles calculation. We studied the effect of ferroelectric polarization reversal on magnetic crystalline anisotropy (MCA) of L10-MnPt films with different interface structures. Our results predict a large perpendicular MCA in L10-MnPt films with Pt-O interface, while an in-plane MCA with Mn-O interface when they are interfaced with ferroelectric BaTiO3. In addition, the magnitude of MCA for both interfaces can be modulated efficiently by the polarization reversal of BaTiO3. The ferroelectric control of MCA has been analyzed based on second order perturbation theory, and it can be mainly attributed to the ferroelectric polarization driven redistribution of Pt-5d orbital occupation around Fermi energy. Especially, for Mn-O interface, the N\'eel vector can be switched between in-plane [100] and [110] directions, or even from in-plane to out-of-plane at certain film thickness by reversing ferroelectric polarization. Our results may provide a non-volatile concept for ferroelectric control of N\'eel vector in L10-antiferromagnets, which could stimulate experimental investigations on magnetoelectric effect of antiferromagnets and promote its applications in low-power consumption spintronic memory devices.