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Flexomagnetism and vertically graded Néel temperature of antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 thin films
2022, Makushko, Pavlo, Kosub, Tobias, Pylypovskyi, Oleksandr V., Hedrich, Natascha, Li, Jiang, Pashkin, Alexej, Avdoshenko, Stanislav, Hübner, René, Ganss, Fabian, Wolf, Daniel, Lubk, Axel, Liedke, Maciej Oskar, Butterling, Maik, Wagner, Andreas, Wagner, Kai, Shields, Brendan J., Lehmann, Paul, Veremchuk, Igor, Fassbender, Jürgen, Maletinsky, Patrick, Makarov, Denys
Antiferromagnetic insulators are a prospective materials platform for magnonics, spin superfluidity, THz spintronics, and non-volatile data storage. A magnetomechanical coupling in antiferromagnets offers vast advantages in the control and manipulation of the primary order parameter yet remains largely unexplored. Here, we discover a new member in the family of flexoeffects in thin films of Cr2O3. We demonstrate that a gradient of mechanical strain can impact the magnetic phase transition resulting in the distribution of the Néel temperature along the thickness of a 50-nm-thick film. The inhomogeneous reduction of the antiferromagnetic order parameter induces a flexomagnetic coefficient of about 15 μB nm−2. The antiferromagnetic ordering in the inhomogeneously strained films can persist up to 100 °C, rendering Cr2O3 relevant for industrial electronics applications. Strain gradient in Cr2O3 thin films enables fundamental research on magnetomechanics and thermodynamics of antiferromagnetic solitons, spin waves and artificial spin ice systems in magnetic materials with continuously graded parameters.
Purely antiferromagnetic magnetoelectric random access memory
2017, Kosub, Tobias, Kopte, Martin, Hühne, Ruben, Appel, Patrick, Shields, Brendan, Maletinsky, Patrick, Hübner, René, Liedke, Maciej Oskar, Fassbender, Jürgen, Schmidt, Oliver G., Makarov, Denys
Magnetic random access memory schemes employing magnetoelectric coupling to write binary information promise outstanding energy efficiency. We propose and demonstrate a purely antiferromagnetic magnetoelectric random access memory (AF-MERAM) that offers a remarkable 50-fold reduction of the writing threshold compared with ferromagnet-based counterparts, is robust against magnetic disturbances and exhibits no ferromagnetic hysteresis losses. Using the magnetoelectric antiferromagnet Cr2O3, we demonstrate reliable isothermal switching via gate voltage pulses and all-electric readout at room temperature. As no ferromagnetic component is present in the system, the writing magnetic field does not need to be pulsed for readout, allowing permanent magnets to be used. Based on our prototypes, we construct a comprehensive model of the magnetoelectric selection mechanisms in thin films of magnetoelectric antiferromagnets, revealing misfit induced ferrimagnetism as an important factor. Beyond memory applications, the AF-MERAM concept introduces a general all-electric interface for antiferromagnets and should find wide applicability in antiferromagnetic spintronics.