Intrinsic spin Hall torque in a moire Chern magnet

Kavli Affiliate: Jie Shan

| First 5 Authors: C. L. Tschirhart, Evgeny Redekop, Lizhong Li, Tingxin Li, Shengwei Jiang

| Summary:

In spin torque magnetic memories, electrically actuated spin currents are
used to switch a magnetic bit. Typically, these require a multilayer geometry
including both a free ferromagnetic layer and a second layer providing spin
injection. For example, spin may be injected by a nonmagnetic layer exhibiting
a large spin Hall effect, a phenomenon known as spin-orbit torque. Here, we
demonstrate a spin-orbit torque magnetic bit in a single two-dimensional system
with intrinsic magnetism and strong Berry curvature. We study AB-stacked
MoTe2/WSe2, which hosts a magnetic Chern insulator at a carrier density of one
hole per moire superlattice site. We observe hysteretic switching of the
resistivity as a function of applied current. Magnetic imaging using a
superconducting quantum interference device reveals that current switches
correspond to reversals of individual magnetic domains. The real space pattern
of domain reversals aligns precisely with spin accumulation measured near the
high-Berry curvature Hubbard band edges. This suggests that intrinsic spin- or
valley-Hall torques drive the observed current-driven magnetic switching in
both MoTe2/WSe2 and other moire materials. The switching current density of
10^3 Amps per square centimeter is significantly less than reported in other
platforms paving the way for efficient control of magnetic order.

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