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Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)

Mon, 05 Jun 2023

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1.Full-scale field-free spin-orbit switching of the CoPt layer grown on vicinal substrates

Authors:Luo Yongming, Liang Mengfan, Feng Zhongshu, Chen Haoran, Jiang Nan, Chen Jianhui, Yuan Mingyue, Zhang Jingcang, Cheng Yifeng, Sun Lu, Bai Ru, Miao Xiaohe, Wang Ningning, Wu Yizheng, Che Renchao

Abstract: A simple, reliable and field-free spin orbit torque (SOT)-induced magnetization switching is a key ingredient for the development of the electrical controllable spintronic devices. Recently, the SOT induced deterministic switching of the CoPt single layer has attracts a lot of interests, as it could simplifies the structure and add new flexibility in the design of SOT devices, compared with the Ferromagnet/Heavy metal bilayer counterparts. Unfortunately, under the field-free switching strategies used nowadays, the switching of the CoPt layer is often partial, which sets a major obstacle for the practical applications. In this study, by growing the CoPt on vicinal substrates, we could achieve the full-scale (100% switching ratio) field-free switching of the CoPt layer. We demonstrate that when grown on vicinal substrates, the magnetic easy axis of the CoPt could be tilted from the normal direction of the film plane; the strength of Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI) would be also be tuned as well. Micromagnetic simulation further reveal that the field-free switching stems from tilted magnetic anisotropy induced by the vicinal substrate, while the enhancement of DMI help reducing the critical switching current. In addition, we also found that the vicinal substrates could also enhance the SOT efficiency. With such simple structure, full-scale switching, tunable DMI and SOT efficiency, our results provide a new knob for the design SOT-MRAM and future spintronic devices.

2.Influence of swift heavy ion irradiation on structure and morphology of La0.25Pr0.375Ca0.375MnO3 perovskite film

Authors:Harsh Bhatt, Yogesh Kumar, R. B. Tokas, A. P. Singh, Fouran Singh, Surendra Singh

Abstract: The effects of Ag15+ (120 MeV) swift heavy ion irradiation on the structural and morphological properties of epitaxial La0.25Pr0.375Ca0.375MnO3 (LPCMO) thin films was investigated by x-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. LPCMO films of thickness ~ 280 {\AA} were irradiated with an Ag15+ ion beam at different fluences of 1E11, 5E11, and 1E12 ions/cm2. XRD results suggested the development of the tensile stress along the out-of-plane direction of the LPCMO film upon ion irradiation which increased on increasing the ion fluence. The morphology of the film also modified with the irradiation and an increase in the fluence of the ion beam enhanced the in-plane height-height correlation length scale (grain size) with a loss of the fractal behaviour.

3.Note on Angular Momentum of Phonons in Chiral Crystals

Authors:Akihito Kato, Jun-ichiro Kishine

Abstract: Phonon angular momentum in chiral materials has been widely studied in spintronics and condensed matter physics. In chiral crystals, this is not the conserved quantity in contrast to the pseudo-angular momentum. To highlight this point and to understand the behavior of the angular momentum, we reexamine phonon dispersion theory based on the irreducible representation of helix and show the distinction of these angular momentum is originated from chirality.

4.Unraveling Femtosecond Spin and Charge Dynamics with EUV T-MOKE Spectroscopy

Authors:Henrike Probst, Christina Möller, Maren Schumacher, Thomas Brede, John Kay Dewhurst, Marcel Reutzel, Daniel Steil, Sangeeta Sharma, G. S. Matthijs Jansen, Stefan Mathias

Abstract: The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) regime has helped to elucidate some of the key processes that lead to the manipulation of magnetism on ultrafast timescales. However, as we show in this paper, the recently introduced spectrally-resolved analysis of such data can lead to surprising experimental observations, which might cause misinterpretations. Therefore, an extended analysis of the EUV magneto-optics is necessary. Via experimental determination of the dielectric tensor, we find here that the non-equilibrium excitation in an ultrafast magnetization experiment can cause a rotation of the off-diagonal element of the dielectric tensor in the complex plane. In direct consequence, the commonly analyzed magneto-optic asymmetry may show time-dependent behaviour that is not directly connected to the magnetic properties of the sample. We showcase such critical observations for the case of ultrafast magnetization dynamics in Ni, and give guidelines for the future analysis of spectrally-resolved magneto-optical data and its comparison with theory.

5.Verification of ultrafast spin transfer effects in FeNi alloys

Authors:Christina Möller, Henrike Probst, G. S. Matthijs Jansen, Maren Schumacher, Mariana Brede, John Kay Dewhurst, Marcel Reutzel, Daniel Steil, Sangeeta Sharma, Stefan Mathias

Abstract: The optical intersite spin transfer (OISTR) effect was recently verified in Fe$_{50}$Ni$_{50}$ using magneto-optical Kerr measurements in the extreme ultraviolet range. However, one of the main experimental signatures analyzed in this work, namely a magnetic moment increase at a specific energy in Ni, was subsequently found also in pure Ni, where no transfer from one element to another is possible. Hence, it is a much-discussed issue whether OISTR in FeNi alloys is real and whether it can be verified experimentally or not. Here, we present a comparative study of spin transfer in Fe$_{50}$Ni$_{50}$, Fe$_{19}$Ni$_{81}$ and pure Ni. We conclusively show that an increase in the magneto-optical signal is indeed insufficient to verify OISTR. However, we also show how an extended data analysis overcomes this problem and allows to unambiguously identify spin transfer effects. Concomitantly, our work solves the long-standing riddle about the origin of delayed demagnetization behavior of Ni in FeNi alloys.

6.Topotactically induced oxygen vacancy order in nickelate single crystals

Authors:Yu-Mi Wu, Pascal Puphal, Hangoo Lee, Jürgen Nuss, Masahiko Isobe, Bernhard Keimer, Matthias Hepting, Y. Eren Suyolcu, Peter A. van Aken

Abstract: The strong structure-property coupling in rare-earth nickelates has spurred the realization of new quantum phases in rapid succession. Recently, topotactic transformations have provided a new platform for the controlled creation of oxygen vacancies and, therewith, for the exploitation of such coupling in nickelates. Here, we report the emergence of oxygen vacancy ordering in Pr$_{0.92}$Ca$_{0.08}$NiO$_{2.75}$ single crystals obtained via a topotactic reduction of the perovskite phase Pr$_{0.92}$Ca$_{0.08}$NiO$_{3}$, using CaH$_2$ as the reducing agent. We unveil a brownmillerite-like ordering pattern of the vacancies by high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, with Ni ions in alternating square-pyramidal and octahedral coordination along the pseudocubic [100] direction. Furthermore, we find that the crystal structure acquires a high level of internal strain, where wavelike modulations of polyhedral tilts and rotations accommodate the large distortions around the vacancy sites. Our results suggest that atomic-resolution electron microscopy is a powerful method to locally resolve unconventional crystal structures that result from the topotactic transformation of complex oxide materials.

7.Crack arrest markings in stress corrosion cracking of 7xxx aluminium alloys: insights into active hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms

Authors:Martí López Freixes, Xuyang Zhou, Raquel Aymerich-Armengol, Miquel Vega-Paredes, Lionel Peguet, Timothy Warner, Baptiste Gault

Abstract: Crack growth in stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in 7xxx Al alloys is an intermittent process, which generates successive crack arrest markings (CAMs) visible on the fracture surface. It is conjectured that H is generated at the crack tip during crack arrest, which then facilitates crack advancement through hydrogen embrittlement. Here, nanoscale imaging by 4D-scanning-transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography show that CAMs are produced by oxidation at the arrested crack tip, matrix precipitates dissolve and solute diffuse towards the growing CAM. Substantial homogenous residual strain remains underneath the fracture surface, indicative of non-localized plastic activity. Our study suggests that H induces crack propagation through decohesion.

8.Adsorption of CO and NO molecules on pristine, vacancy defected and doped graphene-like GaN monolayer: A first-principles study

Authors:Han-Fei Li, Si-Qi Li, Guo-Xiang Chen

Abstract: In order to study the novel gas detection or sensing applications of gallium nitride monolayer (GaN-ML), we mainly focused on the structural, energetic, electronic and magnetic properties of toxic gas molecules (CO, NO) adsorbed on pristine, single vacancy (N-vacancy, Ga-vacancy) defected, and metals (Al, Fe, Pd and Pt) doped GaN-ML using density functional theory (DFT-D2 method) in this work. The calculations demonstrate that pristine GaN-ML is extremely insensitive to CO and NO together with the existence of a weak physisorption nature due to small adsorption energy, charge transfer, and long adsorption distance. It is found that both N-vacancy defected GaN-ML and Fe-doped GaN-ML can significantly increase the adsorption energy and charge transfer for CO. The CO adsorption induces the metallic characteristics of N-vacancy GaN-ML to be converted to the half-metallic characteristics together with 100% spin polarization, and it also drastically changes the magnetic moment, implying that N-vacancy GaN-ML exhibits excellent sensitivity to CO. However, Fe-doped GaN-ML is not conducive to CO detection. Moreover, N-vacancy defected and Pt-doped GaN-ML greatly improve the adsorption ability for NO compared to other substrates, and the presence of stronger orbital hybridization suggests that the interaction between them is chemisorption. Therefore, N-vacancy defected GaN-ML and Pt-doped GaN-ML can serve as potential materials in future NO sensing devices.

9.Accurate and efficient treatment of spin-orbit coupling via second variation employing local orbitals

Authors:Cecilia Vona, Sven Lubeck, Hannah Kleine, Andris Gulans, Claudia Draxl

Abstract: A new method is presented that allows for efficient evaluation of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in density-functional theory calculations. In the so-called second-variational scheme, where Kohn-Sham functions obtained in a scalar-relativistic calculation are employed as a new basis for the spin-orbit-coupled problem, we introduce a rich set of local orbitals as additional basis functions. Also relativistic local orbitals can be used. The method is implemented in the all-electron full-potential code \exciting. We show that, for materials with strong SOC effects, this approach can reduce the overall basis-set size and thus computational costs tremendously.

10.Solid-Lubrication Performance of Ti$_3$C$_2$T$_x$ -- Effect of Tribo-Chemistry and Exfoliation

Authors:Andreas Rosenkranz, Bo Wang, Dario Zambrano, Javier Marqués Henríquez, Jose Y. Aguilar-Hurtado, Edoardo Marquis, Paolo Restuccia, Brian C. Wyatt, M. Clelia Righi, Babak Anasori

Abstract: Multi-layer Ti$_3$C$_2$T$_x$ coatings have demonstrated an outstanding wear performance with excellent durability due to beneficial tribo-layers formed. However, the involved formation processes dependent on the tribological conditions and coating thickness are yet to be fully explored. Therefore, we spray-coated Ti$_3$C$_2$T$_x$ multi-layer particles onto stainless steel substrates to create coatings with two different thicknesses and tested their solid lubrication performance with different normal loads (100 and 200 mN) and sliding frequencies (1 and 2.4 Hz) using linear-reciprocating ball-on-disk tribometry. We demonstrate that MXenes' tribological performance depends on their initial state (delaminated few-layer vs. multi-layer particles), coating thickness and sliding velocity. Specifically, the best behavior is observed for thinner multi-layer coatings tested at the lower frequency. In contrast, coatings made of delaminated few-layer MXene are not as effective as their multi-layer counterparts. Our high-resolution interface characterization by transmission electron microscopy revealed unambiguous differences regarding the uniformity and chemistry of the formed tribo-layers as well as the degree of tribo-induced MXenes' exfoliation. Atomistic insights into the exfoliation process and molecular dynamic simulations quantitatively backed up our experimental results regarding coating thickness and velocity dependency. This ultimately demonstrates that MXenes' tribological performance is governed by the underlying tribo-chemistry and their exfoliation ability during rubbing.

11.Extraordinary Tunneling Magnetoresistance in Antiferromagnetic Tunnel Junctions with Antiperovskite Electrodes

Authors:Gautam Gurung, Ding-Fu Shao, Evgeny Y. Tsymbal

Abstract: Recent theoretical predictions and experimental demonstrations of a large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect in antiferromagnetic (AFM) tunnel junctions (AFMTJs) offer a new paradigm for information technologies where the AFM N\`eel vector serves as a state variable. A large TMR is beneficial for the applications. Here, we predict the emergence of an extraordinary TMR (ETMR) effect in AFMTJs utilizing noncollinear AFM antiperovskite XNMn$_{3}$ (X = Ga, Sn,...) electrodes and a perovskite oxide ATiO$_{3}$ (A = Sr, Ba,...) barrier layer. The ETMR effect stems from the perfectly spin-polarized electronic states in the AFM antiperovskites that can efficiently tunnel through the low-decay-rate evanescent states of the perovskite oxide while preserving their spin state. Using an GaNMn$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$/GaNMn$_{3}$ (001) AFMTJ as a representative example, we demonstrate a giant TMR ratio exceeding $10^{4}$% and originating from the ETMR effect. These results are promising for the efficient detection and control of the N\`eel vector in AFM spintronics.