The intense recent research on skyrmions has focused on multilayers of classical magnetic materials (Co, CoFeB, Fe…). In this work, the authors explore skyrmions in van der Waals bi-dimensional magnets, a new type of magnetic material in the broad family of 2D materials. Using ab initio and Monte Carlo calculations, they demonstrate that skyrmions should […]

Due to its good radiation effects tolerance and its inherent non volatility, Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetic Tunnel Junction (STT-MTJ) is considered as a promising candidate for high-reliability electronics. A radiation tolerant circuit design suitable for space application is proposed in this study. Radiation effects research on semiconductors has been pursued since the 1960s becoming an extremely […]

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures of great interest for nanoscale information storage and processing. However, stabilizing small skyrmions without applying an external magnetic field remains challenging. This study employs a thin ferromagnetic layer exchange-biased by an antiferromagnetic film to stabilize ferromagnetic skyrmions down to 30 nm in diameter, at zero magnetic field. In […]

Layered magnetic topological insulators are candidate to unveil novel electronic phases controlled by the magnetization. In MnBi4Te7, we evidenced a transition from an antiferromagnetic to a ferromagnetic-like metamagnetic state, possibly realizing the quantum anomalous Hall regime in ultra-thin films above 1K. 3D topological insulators ideally have an insulating bulk and 2D gapless topological surface states […]

Topological insulators (TI) represent a new class of insulating materials hosting metallic surface states. Moreover, those surface states exhibit a Dirac cone energy dispersion where the strong spin-orbit coupling leads to a helical spin texture at the Fermi level. This property can be exploited to detect spin currents in conventional semiconductors like silicon or germanium. […]

We present experimental evidence for coherent long-distance transport of angular momentum inside a non-magnetic dielectric via the coupling to circularly polarized sound waves that exceeds previous benchmarks set by magnon diffusion by orders of magnitude. The vision of spintronics is to use the spin of an electron rather than its charge to allow computers and […]

This work reports the development of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions incorporating a stack of Tb/Co nanolayers whose magnetization can be all-optically controlled via helicity-independent single-shot switching. Toggling of the magnetization of the Tb/Co electrode was achieved using either 60 femtosecond-long or 5 picosecond-long laser pulses, with incident fluences down to 3.5 mJ/cm2. Ever since the […]

Electron spin—a fundamentally quantum property—is central to spintronics, a technology that revolutionized data storage, and that could play a major role in creating new computer processors. In order to generate and detect spin currents, spintronics traditionally uses ferromagnetic materials whose magnetization switching consume high amounts of energy. In the April 22, 2020 issue of Nature, […]

MRAM is a type of nonvolatile memory that stores the binary information through the magnetic configuration of its main building block: the Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ). In the last decade, the use of perpendicular anisotropy existing at the tunnel barrier interface, allowed to improve MRAM manufacturability. However, the thermal sensitivity of the interfacial anisotropy is […]

Spin accumulation phenomena frequently occur in spintronic devices due to the difference of electrical resistivities of spin-up and spin-down electrons in magnetic materials. They are balanced by spin relaxation phenomena. These phenomena take place in a diffusive regime which involves numerous individual scattering events. Consequently, although the time scale of elastic electron scattering in metals […]