Significant Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) at interfaces comprising hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and cobalt (Co) remaining stable over a large range of Co film thickness are reported. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that that such significant DMI and PMA give rise to the formation of skyrmions with small applied external fields. Interfacial […]

The rapid development of information technology (IT) has had profound consequences on most aspects of our civilization. However, the energy consumption associated to IT continues to rise at an accelerated pace. In this context the microelectronics industry faces major challenges related to power dissipation and energy consumption. A promising solution is the integration of non-volatile […]

This introductory course aims at helping students, researchers and engineers having little or no background in magnetism to better understand the physics and working principles of this new class of magnetic memory called MRAMs (Magnetic Random Access Memory) based on magnetic tunnel junctions. MRAM and particularly the STT-MRAM (Spin-Transfer-Torque RAM) are attracting an increasing interest […]

We report very large spin transfer torque driven domain wall velocities, approaching 3000 m/s, in rare-earth free ferrimagnetic Mn4-xNixN thin films close to the angular momentum compensation point. We also observe a reversal of the domain wall motion direction after the angular momentum compensation point. The interest towards ferrimagnets has recently grown because of their […]

Q. Shao, P. Li, L. Liu, H. Yang, S. Fukami, A. Razavi, H. Wu, K. Wang, F. Freimuth, Y. Mokrousov, M. D. Stiles, S. Emori, A. Hoffmann, J. Åkerman, K. Roy, J.-P. Wang, S.-H. Yang, K. Garello, W. Zhang, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, doi: 10.1109/TMAG.2021.3078583. Spin-orbit torque (SOT) is an emerging technology that enables the […]

Perpendicular anisotropy Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) can contribute reduced power consumption in electronic circuits. These spintronic devices also rely on materials like Co, Pt and Ru, having associated supply risk or environmental impact. A sustainability analysis of these devices shows, that the impact of the wafer substrate is much larger than that of the […]

Atomistic spin simulations have been carried out to study the probability of all-optical switching of [Tb/Co] multilayered thin films. Playing with the composition of the sample, the material parameters and the fluence of the laser pulse we have shown the possibility to get single-shot all-optical switching. Since the first experimental observation of all-optical switching phenomena, […]

Magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy form the basis of the spin-transfer torque magnetic random-access memory (STT-MRAM), which is nonvolatile, fast, dense, and has quasi-infinite write endurance and low power consumption. Here, an alternative design of tunnel junctions comprising FeCoFe|MgO storage layers with greatly enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is proposed, leveraging the interfacial PMA […]

Two-dimensional materials like graphene or transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted a lot of attention during the last decade for their original electronic properties intimately related to their 2D character and symmetries. At Spintec, the “2D spintronics” team develops the molecular beam epitaxy of TMDs for spintronics and has recently succeeded in growing a new […]

Voltage-driven ionic transport in magnetic materials has traditionally relied on controlled migration of oxygen ions. In this work, led by researchers at UAB (Barcelona) in collaboration with colleagues at Georgetown Univ. (D.C.), IMN-CNM-CSIC (Madrid), Spintec (Grenoble), HZDR (Dresden), ICN2 and IMB-CNM-CSIC (Barcelona), room-temperature voltage-driven nitrogen transport is demonstrated using electrolyte-gating of a CoN film. The […]