Baldrati, L.; Gomonay, O.; Ross, A.; Filianina, M.; Lebrun, R.; Ramos, R.; Leveille, C.; Fuhrmann, F.; Forrest, T.R.; Maccherozzi, F.; Valencia, S.; Kronast, F.; Saitoh, E.; Sinova, J.; Kläui, M.: Mechanism of Néel order switching in antiferromagnetic thin films revealed by magnetotransport and direct imaging. Physical Review Letters 123 (2019), p. 177201/1-6
10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.177201
Open Access Version
Abstract:
We probe the current-induced magnetic switching of insulating antiferromagnet–heavy-metal systems, by electrical spin Hall magnetoresistance measurements and direct imaging, identifying a reversal occurring by domain wall (DW) motion. We observe switching of more than one-third of the antiferromagnetic domains by the application of current pulses. Our data reveal two different magnetic switching mechanisms leading together to an efficient switching, namely, the spin-current induced effective magnetic anisotropy variation and the action of the spin torque on the DWs.