Orthogonal interlayer coupling in an all-antiferromagnetic junction

Yongjian Zhou, Liyang Liao, Tingwen Guo, Hua Bai, Mingkun Zhao, Caihua Wan, Lin Huang, Lei Han, Leilei Qiao, Yunfeng You, Chong Chen, Ruyi Chen, Zhiyuan Zhou, Xiufeng Han, Feng Pan and Cheng Song ()
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Yongjian Zhou: Tsinghua University
Liyang Liao: Tsinghua University
Tingwen Guo: Tsinghua University
Hua Bai: Tsinghua University
Mingkun Zhao: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Caihua Wan: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lin Huang: Tsinghua University
Lei Han: Tsinghua University
Leilei Qiao: Tsinghua University
Yunfeng You: Tsinghua University
Chong Chen: Tsinghua University
Ruyi Chen: Tsinghua University
Zhiyuan Zhou: Tsinghua University
Xiufeng Han: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Feng Pan: Tsinghua University
Cheng Song: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract In conventional ferromagnet/spacer/ferromagnet sandwiches, noncollinear couplings are commonly absent because of the low coupling energy and strong magnetization. For antiferromagnets (AFM), the small net moment can embody a low coupling energy as a sizable coupling field, however, such AFM sandwich structures have been scarcely explored. Here we demonstrate orthogonal interlayer coupling at room temperature in an all-antiferromagnetic junction Fe2O3/Cr2O3/Fe2O3, where the Néel vectors in the top and bottom Fe2O3 layers are strongly orthogonally coupled and the coupling strength is significantly affected by the thickness of the antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 spacer. From the energy and symmetry analysis, the direct coupling via uniform magnetic ordering in Cr2O3 spacer in our junction is excluded. The coupling is proposed to be mediated by the non-uniform domain wall state in the spacer. The strong long-range coupling in an antiferromagnetic junction provides an unexplored approach for designing antiferromagnetic structures and makes it a promising building block for antiferromagnetic devices.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31531-w

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