The Xiao Group has recently published an insightful Perspective article in APL Materials, exploring the fascinating realm of spin textures in synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs).
Spin textures, including magnetic domain walls and skyrmions, hold immense promise for revolutionizing electronic devices by encoding information bits.
While ferromagnetic films have shown potential in device prototypes, their widespread implementation has been hindered by material-related limitations. However, antiferromagnetic spin textures present a viable solution to many of these challenges, offering a pathway to faster, smaller, more energy-efficient, and robust electronics.
Synthetic antiferromagnets, characterized by multiple magnetic layers separated by spacers, serve as a platform for manipulating the functionality of spin textures using different materials and interface engineering techniques.
In the Perspective article, the authors extensively examine the challenges and opportunities associated with spin textures in synthetic antiferromagnets. They propose potential directions for future research in this exciting field, shedding light on the advantages of spin textures in SAFs compared to their ferromagnetic counterparts. Notably, they highlight the benefits of smaller size, higher mobility, and the vanishing skyrmion Hall effect. The researchers also discuss the potential of utilizing magnetic multilayers that combine both interfacial and interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMIs), which present a promising avenue for constructing three-dimensional spin textures. Furthermore, they delve into the incorporation of significant interlayer DMIs in SAFs, which can enhance their nontrivial responses to external stimuli.
The authors believe that spin textures possess the potential to revolutionize the landscape of next-generation beyond-CMOS data storage, logic, probabilistic computing, and neuromorphic computing devices. The ongoing advancements in spin textures within SAFs are poised to significantly broaden the scope of spintronic applications.
This Perspective article provides valuable insights and paves the way for future developments in spin textures and their transformative impact on electronic technologies.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-2202514.