Orbital torque switching of room temperature two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnet Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub>.

Zhang, Delin; Wei, Heshuang; Duan, Jinyu; Chen, Jiali; Chen, Jiaxin; Yue, Dongdong; Gong, Wanxi; Liu, Pengfei et al. · Nat Commun · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Efficiently manipulating the magnetization of van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets has attracted considerable interest in developing room-temperature two-dimensional (2D) material-based memory and logic devices. Here, taking advantage of the unique properties of the vdW ferromagnet as well as promising characteristics of the orbital Hall effect, we demonstrate the room-temperature magnetization switching of vdW ferromagnet Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub> through the orbital torque generated by the orbital Hall material, Titanium (Ti). The switching current density is estimated to be around 1.6×10<sup>6 </sup>A/cm<sup>2</sup>, comparable to that achieved in Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub> using spin-orbit torque from spin Hall materials (e.g., WTe<sub>2</sub>, and TaIrTe<sub>4</sub>). The efficient magnetization switching arises from the combined effects of the large orbital Hall conductivity of Ti and the strong spin-orbit correlation of the Fe<sub>3</sub>GaTe<sub>2</sub>, as confirmed through theoretical calculations. Our findings advance the understanding of orbital torque switching and pave the way for exploring 2D material-based orbitronic devices.