SPIN

Spintronics using topological insulators (TIs) as strong spin–orbit coupling (SOC) materials have emerged and shown rapid progress in the past few years. Different from traditional heavy metals, TIs exhibit very strong SOC and nontrivial topological surface states that originate in the bulk band topology order, which can provide very efficient means to manipulate adjacent magnetic materials when passing a charge current through them. In this paper, we review the recent progress in the TI-based magnetic spintronics research field. In particular, we focus on the spin–orbit torque (SOT)-induced magnetization switching in the magnetic TI structures, spin–torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) measurements in the TI/ferromagnet structures, spin pumping and spin injection effects in the TI/magnet structures, as well as the electrical detection of the surface spin-polarized current in TIs. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in the TI-based spintronics field and its potential applications in ultralow power dissipation spintronic memory and logic devices.

In this paper, we discuss the role of material parameters and external field effects on a thin film topological insulator(TI) in the context of quantum phase transition (QPT). First, we consider an in-plane tilted magnetic field and determine the band structure of the surface states as a function of the tilt angle. We show that the presence of either a hybridization term or hexagonal warping or a combination of both leads to a semi-metal to insulator phase transition which is facilitated by their ${𝒫}{𝒯}$ symmetry breaking character. We then note that while the introduction of an electric field does not allow for this QPT since it does not break ${𝒫}{𝒯}$ symmetry, it can be used in conjunction with a tunneling element to reach a phase transition efficiently. The corresponding critical point is then nontrivially dependent on the electric field, which is pointed out here. Then, we demonstrate that including a hexagonal warping term leads to an immediate ${𝒫}{𝒯}$ symmetry violating QPT.

In this paper, we investigate theoretically the spin–orbit torque (SOT) as well as the Gilbert damping for a two band model of a 2D helical surface state with a ferromagnetic (FM) exchange coupling. We decompose the density matrix into the Fermi sea and Fermi surface components and obtain their contributions to the electronic transport as well as the SOT. Furthermore, we obtain the expression for the Gilbert damping due to the surface state of a 3D topological insulator (TI) and predict its dependence on the direction of the magnetization precession axis.

We study effects originating from the strong spin–orbit coupling in CoFeB/MgO heterostructures with heavy metal (HM) underlayers. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at the CoFeB/MgO interface, the spin Hall angle of the heavy metal layer, current induced torques and the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction at the HM/CoFeB interfaces are studied for films in which the early 5$d$ transition metals are used as the HM underlayer. We show how the choice of the HM layer influences these intricate spin–orbit effects that emerge within the bulk and at interfaces of the heterostructures.

Spin–orbit torque provides an efficient way to switch magnets for low power memory applications by reducing the current density needed to switch the magnetization. Perpendicularly polarized magnets are preferred for high density data storage applications because of their high thermal stability in scaled dimensions. However, spin–orbit torque cannot switch a perpendicularly polarized magnet deterministically from up to down and down to up in the absence of an external magnetic field because spin–orbit torque alone cannot break the symmetry of the system. This poses a severe challenge to the applicability of spin–orbit torque for memory devices. In this paper, we show through micromagnetic simulations that when spin–orbit torque is applied on a magnet with a wedge shape, the moments of the magnet are aligned in-plane. On removal of the spin–orbit torque the moments deterministically evolve to vertically upward or downward direction because the anisotropy axis of the magnet is tilted away from the vertical direction owing to the wedge shape of the magnet. Thus, spin–orbit torque driven deterministic switching of the magnet in the absence of an external magnetic field is possible.

Dirac and Weyl materials refer to a class of solid materials which host low-energy quasiparticle excitations that can be described by the Dirac and Weyl equations in relativistic quantum mechanics. Starting with the advent of graphene as the first prominent example, these materials have been attracting tremendous interest owing to their novel fundamental properties as well as the great potential for applications. Here we introduce the basic concepts and notions related to Dirac and Weyl materials and briefly review some recent works in this field, particularly on the conceptual development and the possible spintronics/pseudospintronics applications.

We have studied the Zitterbewegung effect on an infinite two-dimensional sheet with honeycomb lattice. By tuning the perpendicular electric field and the magnetization of the sheet, it can enter different topological phases. We have shown that the phase and magnitude of Zitterbewegung effect, i.e., the jittering motion of electron wavepackets, correlates with the various topological phases. The topological phase diagram can be reconstructed by analyzing these features. Our findings are applicable to materials like silicene, germanene, stanene, etc.

Spin filters using spin–orbit interaction (SOI) are very important in the field of spintronics. Therefore, a theory of devices using SOI is necessary for designing the spin filters. The spin-filtering devices can be used to generate and detect spin polarized currents. Many researchers have reported on the spin-filters using linear Rashba SOI. However, the spin-filters using square and cubic Rashba SOIs are not yet reported. This is surely because the Aharonov–Casher (AC) phases acquired under square and cubic Rashba SOIs are ambiguous. In this paper, we try to derive the AC phases acquired under $n$th order Rashba SOIs, which we call general Rashba SOIs, using non-Abelian SU (2) gauge theory. As a result, we have successfully derived these AC phases without completing the square methods which is useless except for linear Rashba SOI. In the process of derivation of AC phases, we have also found another expression of adiabatic approximation for a pure gauge. This finding will lead to the starting point for deeply understanding the adiabatic approximation. Using the above AC phases under general Rashba SOIs, we investigate the spin filter effect in Aharonov–Bohm (AB) ring with double quantum dots (QDs) under general Rashba SOIs. The spin transport is investigated from left nanowire to right nanowire in this structure within tight binding approximation. Especially, we focus on the difference of spin filter effects among general Rashba SOIs. We have obtained the penetrating magnetic flux dependence of spin polarization for the AB ring subject to general Rashba SOIs. It is found that the perfect spin filtering is achieved for all the Rashba SOIs. This result indicates that this AB ring under general Rashba SOIs can be a promising device for spin current generation without ferromagnetic metals. Moreover, this device under different order Rashba SOI behaves in totally different ways in response to penetrating magnetic flux, which is attributed to $n$ times rotation of directions of the effective magnetic field in the in-plane momentum. This fact means that we can determine the order of Rashba SOIs according to the peak position. We consider that this is very useful for many researchers.