Nanoscale quantum imaging of field-free deterministic switching of a chiral antiferromagnet

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Main Authors: Zhou, Jingcheng, Li, Senlei, Wang, Chuangtang, Jin, Hanshang, Xu, Stelo, Xiong, Zelong, Jacobsen, Carson, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Taufour, Valentin, Zhao, Liuyan, Chen, Hua, Du, Chunhui Rita, Wang, Hailong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhou, Jingcheng
Li, Senlei
Wang, Chuangtang
Jin, Hanshang
Xu, Stelo
Xiong, Zelong
Jacobsen, Carson
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Taufour, Valentin
Zhao, Liuyan
Chen, Hua
Du, Chunhui Rita
Wang, Hailong
author_facet Zhou, Jingcheng
Li, Senlei
Wang, Chuangtang
Jin, Hanshang
Xu, Stelo
Xiong, Zelong
Jacobsen, Carson
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Taufour, Valentin
Zhao, Liuyan
Chen, Hua
Du, Chunhui Rita
Wang, Hailong
contents Recently, unconventional spin-orbit torques (SOTs) with tunable spin generation open new pathways for designing novel magnetization control for cutting-edge spintronics innovations. A leading research thrust is to develop field-free deterministic magnetization switching for implementing scalable and energy favorable magnetic recording and storage applications, which have been demonstrated in conventional ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic material systems. Here we extend this advanced magnetization control strategy to chiral antiferromagnet Mn3Sn using spin currents with out-of-plane canted polarization generated from low-symmetry van der Waals (vdW) material WTe2. Numerical calculations suggest that damping-like SOT of spins injected perpendicular to the kagome plane of Mn3Sn serves as a driving force to rotate the chiral magnetic order, while the field-like SOT of spin currents with polarization parallel to the kagome plane provides the bipolar deterministicity to the magnetic switching. We further introduce scanning quantum microscopy to visualize nanoscale evolutions of Mn3Sn magnetic domains during the field-free switching process, corroborating the exceptionally large magnetic switching ratio up to 90%. Our results highlight the opportunities provided by hybrid SOT material platforms consisting of noncollinear antiferromagnets and low-symmetry vdW spin source materials for developing next-generation, transformative spintronic logic devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_22856
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nanoscale quantum imaging of field-free deterministic switching of a chiral antiferromagnet
Zhou, Jingcheng
Li, Senlei
Wang, Chuangtang
Jin, Hanshang
Xu, Stelo
Xiong, Zelong
Jacobsen, Carson
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Taufour, Valentin
Zhao, Liuyan
Chen, Hua
Du, Chunhui Rita
Wang, Hailong
Materials Science
Recently, unconventional spin-orbit torques (SOTs) with tunable spin generation open new pathways for designing novel magnetization control for cutting-edge spintronics innovations. A leading research thrust is to develop field-free deterministic magnetization switching for implementing scalable and energy favorable magnetic recording and storage applications, which have been demonstrated in conventional ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic material systems. Here we extend this advanced magnetization control strategy to chiral antiferromagnet Mn3Sn using spin currents with out-of-plane canted polarization generated from low-symmetry van der Waals (vdW) material WTe2. Numerical calculations suggest that damping-like SOT of spins injected perpendicular to the kagome plane of Mn3Sn serves as a driving force to rotate the chiral magnetic order, while the field-like SOT of spin currents with polarization parallel to the kagome plane provides the bipolar deterministicity to the magnetic switching. We further introduce scanning quantum microscopy to visualize nanoscale evolutions of Mn3Sn magnetic domains during the field-free switching process, corroborating the exceptionally large magnetic switching ratio up to 90%. Our results highlight the opportunities provided by hybrid SOT material platforms consisting of noncollinear antiferromagnets and low-symmetry vdW spin source materials for developing next-generation, transformative spintronic logic devices.
title Nanoscale quantum imaging of field-free deterministic switching of a chiral antiferromagnet
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.22856