Thermally assisted magnetization control and switching of Dy3Fe5O12 and Tb3Fe5O12 ferrimagnetic garnet by low density current.

• Thermally assisted stable and repeatable current-induced magnetization switching of DyIG and TbIG have been achieved. • The magnitude of current density is 10−3 A/cm2, which is competitive in similar works. • The calculation results of thermal assisted effect are quantitative agreement with experiments. Current-induced magnetization switching is mainly realized by spin-transfer torque or spin-orbital torque, which usually requires an extremely large current density (more than 105 A/cm2). Here we report a low-energy consumption, stable and reliable, thermal assisted current-induced magnetization switching in devices based on ferrimagnetic RIG (Rare earth garnet ferrite, where R represents rare earth element Dy or Tb). The remanent magnetization of DyIG (Dy 3 Fe 5 O 12) and TbIG (Tb 3 Fe 5 O 12) could be switched by applying an external voltage of several volts (corresponding current is tiny and on the order of only 10−3 A/cm2). The remanent magnetization switching of RIG is attributed to the temperature variation (ΔT) induced by the thermal effect of current. The temperature variation ΔT could reach 4.8 K for DyIG at 2 mA/cm2, and could reach 6.54 K for TbIG at 2.4 mA/cm2. The remanent magnetization could be switched from −0.037 to 0.013 emu/g for DyIG, and could be switched from −0.07 to 0.17 emu/g for TbIG. This work might provide a novel way for thermally assisted magnetization switching in ferrimagnetic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]