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Picosecond Spin Orbit Torque Switching
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Reducing energy dissipation while increasing speed in computation and memory is a long-standing challenge for spintronics research. In the last 20 years, femtosecond lasers have emerged as a tool to control the magnetization in specific magnetic materials at the picosecond timescale. However, the use of ultrafast optics in integrated circuits and memories would require a major paradigm shift. An ultrafast electrical control of the magnetization is far preferable for integrated systems. Here we demonstrate reliable and deterministic control of the out-of-plane magnetization of a 1 nm-thick Co layer with single 6 ps-wide electrical pulses that induce spin-orbit torques on the magnetization. We can monitor the ultrafast magnetization dynamics due to the spin-orbit torques on sub-picosecond timescales, thus far accessible only by numerical simulations. Due to the short duration of our pulses, we enter a counter-intuitive regime of switching where heat dissipation assists the reversal. Moreover, we estimate a low energy cost to switch the magnetization, projecting to below 1fJ for a (20 nm)^3 cell. These experiments prove that spintronic phenomena can be exploited on picosecond time-scales for full magnetic control and should launch a new regime of ultrafast spin torque studies and applications.<br />Comment: Includes article + supplementary information. Latest version uses full name of the first author. Nature Electronics (2020)
- Subjects :
- Physics - Applied Physics
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.1912.01377
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00488-3