In the past two decades, the interest in materials with strong spin-orbit coupling has attracted substantial attention because of the novel physical mechanisms they display and their potential for applications. The interface displaying large spin-orbit coupling has been recognized as a powerful platform to investigate the spin transport in ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and non-magnetic materials, as well as their interfaces. Besides its rich physics, the related applications are also worth studying. The current-induced spin-orbit-torque arising from angular momentum transfer from the lattice to the spin system has substantial potential in recent state-of-art spin-orbit torque magnetic random access memory. In this dissertation, we have been interested in better understanding and characterizing the spin-orbit torque and spin Hall transport in various heterostructures of interest. We used the second harmonic method to determine the magnitude of the spin currents generation and transmission in Cu-Au alloy and Ir-Mn compound, respectively. We also characterized the device performance in selected heterostructures displaying either perpendicular MgO-based tunnel magnetoresistance or unusual surface states. Finally, we used these properties to approach spin-orbit torque magnetic random access memory through designing, fabricating, and characterizing the devices that focused on current-induced spin-orbit-torque magnetization switching.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:kaust.edu.sa/oai:repository.kaust.edu.sa:10754/664132 |
| Date | 28 June 2020 |
| Creators | Wen, Yan |
| Contributors | Zhang, Xixiang, Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, Manchon, Aurelien, Li, Xiaohang, Xiao, John |
| Source Sets | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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