TY - JOUR
T1 - Magnetization switching in ferromagnets by adsorbed chiral molecules without current or external magnetic field
AU - Ben Dor, Oren
AU - Yochelis, Shira
AU - Radko, Anna
AU - Vankayala, Kiran
AU - Capua, Eyal
AU - Capua, Amir
AU - Yang, See Hun
AU - Baczewski, Lech Tomasz
AU - Parkin, Stuart Stephen Papworth
AU - Naaman, Ron
AU - Paltiel, Yossi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2017/2/23
Y1 - 2017/2/23
N2 - Ferromagnets are commonly magnetized by either external magnetic fields or spin polarized currents. The manipulation of magnetization by spin-current occurs through the spin-transfer-torque effect, which is applied, for example, in modern magnetoresistive random access memory. However, the current density required for the spin-transfer torque is of the order of 1 × 106 A·cm-2, or about 1 × 1025 electrons s-1 cm-2. This relatively high current density significantly affects the devices' structure and performance. Here we demonstrate magnetization switching of ferromagnetic thin layers that is induced solely by adsorption of chiral molecules. In this case, about 1013 electrons per cm2 are sufficient to induce magnetization reversal. The direction of the magnetization depends on the handedness of the adsorbed chiral molecules. Local magnetization switching is achieved by adsorbing a chiral self-assembled molecular monolayer on a gold-coated ferromagnetic layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These results present a simple low-power magnetization mechanism when operating at ambient conditions.
AB - Ferromagnets are commonly magnetized by either external magnetic fields or spin polarized currents. The manipulation of magnetization by spin-current occurs through the spin-transfer-torque effect, which is applied, for example, in modern magnetoresistive random access memory. However, the current density required for the spin-transfer torque is of the order of 1 × 106 A·cm-2, or about 1 × 1025 electrons s-1 cm-2. This relatively high current density significantly affects the devices' structure and performance. Here we demonstrate magnetization switching of ferromagnetic thin layers that is induced solely by adsorption of chiral molecules. In this case, about 1013 electrons per cm2 are sufficient to induce magnetization reversal. The direction of the magnetization depends on the handedness of the adsorbed chiral molecules. Local magnetization switching is achieved by adsorbing a chiral self-assembled molecular monolayer on a gold-coated ferromagnetic layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These results present a simple low-power magnetization mechanism when operating at ambient conditions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013840904&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/ncomms14567
DO - 10.1038/ncomms14567
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C2 - 28230054
AN - SCOPUS:85013840904
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 8
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
M1 - 14567
ER -