Current-induced switching of a van der Waals ferromagnet at room temperature.

Kajale, Shivam N; Nguyen, Thanh; Chao, Corson A; Bono, David C; Boonkird, Artittaya; Li, Mingda; Sarkar, Deblina · Nat Commun · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Recent discovery of emergent magnetism in van der Waals magnetic materials (vdWMM) has broadened the material space for developing spintronic devices for energy-efficient computation. While there has been appreciable progress in vdWMM discovery, a solution for non-volatile, deterministic switching of vdWMMs at room temperature has been missing, limiting the prospects of their adoption into commercial spintronic devices. Here, we report the first demonstration of current-controlled non-volatile, deterministic magnetization switching in a vdW magnetic material at room temperature. We have achieved spin-orbit torque (SOT) switching of the PMA vdW ferromagnet Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub> using a Pt spin-Hall layer up to 320 K, with a threshold switching current density as low as [Formula: see text]1.69 [Formula: see text] 10<sup>6</sup> A cm<sup>-2</sup> at room temperature. We have also quantitatively estimated the anti-damping-like SOT efficiency of our Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub>/Pt bilayer system to be [Formula: see text], using the second harmonic Hall voltage measurement technique. These results mark a crucial step in making vdW magnetic materials a viable choice for the development of scalable, energy-efficient spintronic devices.