Abstract
AbstractSpin–orbit torque has recently been intensively investigated for the purposes of manipulating the magnetization in magnetic nano-devices and understanding fundamental physics. Therefore, the search for novel materials or material combinations that exhibit a strong enough spin-torque effect has become one of the top priorities in this field of spintronics. Weyl semimetal, a new topological material that features open Fermi arc with strong spin–orbit coupling and spin–momentum locking effect, is naturally expected to exhibit an enhanced spin-torque effect in magnetic nano-devices. Here we observe a significantly enhanced spin conductivity, which is associated with the field-like torque at low temperatures. The enhancement is obtained in the b-axis WTe2/Py bilayers of nano-devices but not observed in the a-axis of WTe2/Py nano-devices, which can be ascribed to the enhanced spin accumulation by the spin–momentum locking effect of the Fermi arcs of the Weyl semimetal WTe2.
Authors
10
- Peng Li (first)
- Weikang Wu (additional)
- Yan Wen (additional)
- Chenhui Zhang (additional)
- Junwei Zhang (additional)
- Senfu Zhang (additional)
- Zhiming Yu (additional)
- Shengyuan A. Yang (additional)
- A. Manchon (additional)
- Xi-xiang Zhang (additional)
References
69
Referenced
138
-
Liu, L. et al. Spin-torque switching with the giant spin Hall effect of tantalum. Science 336, 555–558 (2012).
(
10.1126/science.1218197
) / Science by L Liu (2012) -
Miron, I. M. et al. Perpendicular switching of a single ferromagnetic layer induced by in-plane current injection. Nature 476, 189–193 (2011).
(
10.1038/nature10309
) / Nature by IM Miron (2011) - Manchon, A. et al. Current-induced spin–orbit torques in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.09636 (2018).
-
Hasan, M. Z. & Kane, C. L. Colloquium: topological insulators. Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 3045–3067 (2010).
(
10.1103/RevModPhys.82.3045
) / Rev. Mod. Phys. by MZ Hasan (2010) -
Qi, X.-L. & Zhang, S.-C. Topological insulators and superconductors. Rev. Mod. Phys. 83, 1057 (2011).
(
10.1103/RevModPhys.83.1057
) / Rev. Mod. Phys. by XL Qi (2011) -
Han, J. et al. Room-temperature spin-orbit torque switching induced by a topological insulator. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 077702 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.077702
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by J Han (2017) -
Wang, Y. et al. Room temperature magnetization switching in topological insulator-ferromagnet heterostructures by spin-orbit torques. Nat. Commun. 8, 1364 (2017).
(
10.1038/s41467-017-01583-4
) / Nat. Commun. by Y Wang (2017) -
Yasuda, K. et al. Current-nonlinear Hall effect and spin-orbit torque magnetization switching in a magnetic topological insulator. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 137204 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.137204
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by K Yasuda (2017) -
Fan, Y. et al. Magnetization switching through giant spin–orbit torque in a magnetically doped topological insulator heterostructure. Nat. Mater. 13, 699–704 (2014).
(
10.1038/nmat3973
) / Nat. Mater. by Y Fan (2014) -
Ndiaye, P. B. et al. Dirac spin-orbit torques and charge pumping at the surface of topological insulators. Phys. Rev. B 96, 014408 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.96.014408
) / Phys. Rev. B by PB Ndiaye (2017) -
Ghosh, S. & Manchon, A. Spin-orbit torque in a three-dimensional topological insulator–ferromagnet heterostructure: crossover between bulk and surface transport. Phys. Rev. B 97, 134402 (2018).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.97.134402
) / Phys. Rev. B by S Ghosh (2018) -
Xu, S.-Y. et al. Observation of Fermi arc surface states in a topological metal. Science 347, 294–298 (2015).
(
10.1126/science.1256742
) / Science by SY Xu (2015) -
Sun, Y., Wu, S.-C. & Yan, B. Topological surface states and Fermi arcs of the noncentrosymmetric Weyl semimetals TaAs, TaP, NbAs, and NbP. Phys. Rev. B 92, 115428 (2015).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.92.115428
) / Phys. Rev. B by Y Sun (2015) -
Ando, Y. et al. Electrical detection of the spin polarization due to charge flow in the surface state of the topological insulator Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3. Nano Lett. 14, 6226–6230 (2014).
(
10.1021/nl502546c
) / Nano Lett. by Y Ando (2014) -
Li, C. et al. Electrical detection of charge-current-induced spin polarization due to spin-momentum locking in Bi2Se3. Nat. Nanotechnol. 9, 218–224 (2014).
(
10.1038/nnano.2014.16
) / Nat. Nanotechnol. by C Li (2014) -
Tang, J. et al. Electrical detection of spin-polarized surface states conduction in (Bi0.53Sb0.47)2Te3 topological insulator. Nano Lett. 14, 5423–5429 (2014).
(
10.1021/nl5026198
) / Nano Lett. by J Tang (2014) -
Dankert, A., Geurs, J., Kamalakar, M. V., Charpentier, S. & Dash, S. P. Room temperature electrical detection of spin polarized currents in topological insulators. Nano Lett. 15, 7976–7981 (2015).
(
10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b03080
) / Nano Lett. by A Dankert (2015) -
Fang, Z. et al. The anomalous Hall effect and magnetic monopoles in momentum space. Science 302, 92–95 (2003).
(
10.1126/science.1089408
) / Science by Z Fang (2003) -
Liu, Z. et al. Discovery of a three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetal, Na3Bi. Science 343, 864–867 (2014).
(
10.1126/science.1245085
) / Science by Z Liu (2014) - Huang, X. et al. Observation of the chiral-anomaly-induced negative magnetoresistance in 3D Weyl semimetal TaAs. Phys. Rev. X 5, 031023 (2015). / Phys. Rev. X by X Huang (2015)
-
Liang, T. et al. Ultrahigh mobility and giant magnetoresistance in the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2. Nat. Mater. 14, 280–284 (2015).
(
10.1038/nmat4143
) / Nat. Mater. by T Liang (2015) -
Lv, B. et al. Observation of Weyl nodes in TaAs. Nat. Phys. 11, 724–727 (2015).
(
10.1038/nphys3426
) / Nat. Phys. by B Lv (2015) -
Soluyanov, A. A. et al. Type-II Weyl semimetals. Nature 527, 495–498 (2015).
(
10.1038/nature15768
) / Nature by AA Soluyanov (2015) -
Xiong, J. et al. Evidence for the chiral anomaly in the Dirac semimetal Na3Bi. Science 350, 413–416 (2015).
(
10.1126/science.aac6089
) / Science by J Xiong (2015) -
Huang, L. et al. Spectroscopic evidence for a type II Weyl semimetallic state in MoTe2. Nat. Mater. 15, 1155–1160 (2016).
(
10.1038/nmat4685
) / Nat. Mater. by L Huang (2016) -
Li, Q. et al. Chiral magnetic effect in ZrTe5. Nat. Phys. 12, 550–554 (2016).
(
10.1038/nphys3648
) / Nat. Phys. by Q Li (2016) -
Jiang, J. et al. Signature of type-II Weyl semimetal phase in MoTe2. Nat. Commun. 8, 13973 (2017).
(
10.1038/ncomms13973
) / Nat. Commun. by J Jiang (2017) -
Li, P. et al. Evidence for topological type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2. Nat. Commun. 8, 2150 (2017).
(
10.1038/s41467-017-02237-1
) / Nat. Commun. by P Li (2017) -
Wang, Y. et al. Gate-tunable negative longitudinal magnetoresistance in the predicted type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2. Nat. Commun. 7, 13142 (2016).
(
10.1038/ncomms13142
) / Nat. Commun. by Y Wang (2016) -
Lv, Y.-Y. et al. Experimental observation of anisotropic Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly in type-II Weyl semimetal WTe1.98 crystals at the quasiclassical regime. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 096603 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.096603
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by YY Lv (2017) -
Potter, A. C., Kimchi, I. & Vishwanath, A. Quantum oscillations from surface Fermi arcs in Weyl and Dirac semimetals. Nat. Commun. 5, 5161 (2014).
(
10.1038/ncomms6161
) / Nat. Commun. by AC Potter (2014) -
Moll, P. J. et al. Transport evidence for Fermi-arc-mediated chirality transfer in the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2. Nature 535, 266–270 (2016).
(
10.1038/nature18276
) / Nature by PJ Moll (2016) -
Wang, C. et al. Observation of Fermi arc and its connection with bulk states in the candidate type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2. Phys. Rev. B 94, 241119 (2016).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.94.241119
) / Phys. Rev. B by C Wang (2016) -
Wu, Y. et al. Observation of Fermi arcs in the type-II Weyl semimetal candidate WTe2. Phys. Rev. B 94, 121113 (2016).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.94.121113
) / Phys. Rev. B by Y Wu (2016) -
Wan, X., Turner, A. M., Vishwanath, A. & Savrasov, S. Y. Topological semimetal and Fermi-arc surface states in the electronic structure of pyrochlore iridates. Phys. Rev. B 83, 205101 (2011).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.83.205101
) / Phys. Rev. B by X Wan (2011) -
Balents, L. Weyl electrons kiss. Physics 4, 36 (2011).
(
10.1103/Physics.4.36
) / Physics by L Balents (2011) -
Sun, X.-Q., Zhang, S.-C. & Wang, Z. Helical spin order from topological Dirac and Weyl semimetals. Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 076802 (2015).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.076802
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by XQ Sun (2015) -
Sun, Y., Zhang, Y., Felser, C. & Yan, B. Strong intrinsic spin Hall effect in the TaAs family of Weyl semimetals. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 146403 (2016).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.146403
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by Y Sun (2016) -
Kes, P., Aarts, J., Vinokur, V. & Van der Beek, C. Dissipation in highly anisotropic superconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 1063 (1990).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.64.1063
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by P Kes (1990) -
Wang, X. et al. Magnetoresistance of two-dimensional and three-dimensional electron gas in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures: influence of magnetic ordering, interface scattering, and dimensionality. Phys. Rev. B 84, 075312 (2011).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.84.075312
) / Phys. Rev. B by X Wang (2011) -
Liu, L. et al. Spin-polarized tunneling study of spin-momentum locking in topological insulators. Phys. Rev. B 91, 235437 (2015).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.91.235437
) / Phys. Rev. B by L Liu (2015) -
Peng, X., Yang, Y., Singh, R. R., Savrasov, S. Y. & Yu, D. Spin generation via bulk spin current in three-dimensional topological insulators. Nat. Commun. 7, 10878 (2016).
(
10.1038/ncomms10878
) / Nat. Commun. by X Peng (2016) -
Avci, C. O. et al. Interplay of spin-orbit torque and thermoelectric effects in ferromagnet/normal-metal bilayers. Phys. Rev. B 90, 224427 (2014).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.90.224427
) / Phys. Rev. B by CO Avci (2014) -
Wen, Y. et al. Temperature dependence of spin-orbit torques in Cu-Au alloys. Phys. Rev. B 95, 104403 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.95.104403
) / Phys. Rev. B by Y Wen (2017) -
Hayashi, M., Kim, J., Yamanouchi, M. & Ohno, H. Quantitative characterization of the spin-orbit torque using harmonic Hall voltage measurements. Phys. Rev. B 89, 144425 (2014).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.89.144425
) / Phys. Rev. B by M Hayashi (2014) - Wang, Y. et al. Planar Hall effect in type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.05929 (2018).
-
Burkov, A. Giant planar Hall effect in topological metals. Phys. Rev. B 96, 041110 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.96.041110
) / Phys. Rev. B by A Burkov (2017) -
Nandy, S., Sharma, G., Taraphder, A. & Tewari, S. Chiral anomaly as the origin of the planar Hall effect in Weyl semimetals. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 176804 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.176804
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by S Nandy (2017) -
Mellnik, A. et al. Spin-transfer torque generated by a topological insulator. Nature 511, 449–451 (2014).
(
10.1038/nature13534
) / Nature by A Mellnik (2014) -
Shao, Q. et al. Strong Rashba-Edelstein effect-induced spin–orbit torques in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide/ferromagnet bilayers. Nano Lett. 16, 7514–7520 (2016).
(
10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03300
) / Nano Lett. by Q Shao (2016) -
MacNeill, D. et al. Thickness dependence of spin-orbit torques generated by WTe2. Phys. Rev. B 96, 054450 (2017).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.96.054450
) / Phys. Rev. B by D MacNeill (2017) -
Wang, L. et al. Tuning magnetotransport in a compensated semimetal at the atomic scale. Nat. Commun. 6, 8892 (2015).
(
10.1038/ncomms9892
) / Nat. Commun. by L Wang (2015) -
Bianchi, M. et al. Coexistence of the topological state and a two-dimensional electron gas on the surface of Bi2Se3. Nat. Commun. 1, 128 (2010).
(
10.1038/ncomms1131
) / Nat. Commun. by M Bianchi (2010) -
King, P. et al. Large tunable Rashba spin splitting of a two-dimensional electron gas in Bi 2 Se 3. Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 096802 (2011).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.096802
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by P King (2011) -
Ali, M. N. et al. Large, non-saturating magnetoresistance in WTe2. Nature 514, 205–208 (2014).
(
10.1038/nature13763
) / Nature by MN Ali (2014) -
Haney, P. M., Lee, H.-W., Lee, K.-J., Manchon, A. & Stiles, M. D. Current induced torques and interfacial spin-orbit coupling: semiclassical modeling. Phys. Rev. B 87, 174411 (2013).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.87.174411
) / Phys. Rev. B by PM Haney (2013) -
Gorbar, E., Miransky, V., Shovkovy, I. & Sukhachov, P. Origin of dissipative Fermi arc transport in Weyl semimetals. Phys. Rev. B 93, 235127 (2016).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.93.235127
) / Phys. Rev. B by E Gorbar (2016) -
Resta, G., Pi, S.-T., Wan, X. & Savrasov, S. Y. High surface conductivity of Fermi-arc electrons in Weyl semimetals. Phys. Rev. B 97, 085142 (2018).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.97.085142
) / Phys. Rev. B by G Resta (2018) -
Marzari, N. & Vanderbilt, D. Maximally localized generalized Wannier functions for composite energy bands. Phys. Rev. B 56, 12847–12865 (1997).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.56.12847
) / Phys. Rev. B by N Marzari (1997) -
Blöchl, P. E. Projector augmented-wave method. Phys. Rev. B 50, 17953–17979 (1994).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.50.17953
) / Phys. Rev. B by PE Blöchl (1994) -
Kresse, G. & Joubert, D. From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method. Phys. Rev. B 59, 1758–1775 (1999).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.59.1758
) / Phys. Rev. B by G Kresse (1999) -
Perdew, J. P., Burke, K. & Ernzerhof, M. Generalized gradient approximation made simple. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865–3868 (1996).
(
10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3865
) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by JP Perdew (1996) -
Monkhorst, H. J. & Pack, J. D. Special points for Brillouin-zone integrations. Phys. Rev. B 13, 5188–5192 (1976).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.13.5188
) / Phys. Rev. B by HJ Monkhorst (1976) -
Mar, A., Jobic, S. & Ibers, J. A. Metal-metal vs tellurium-tellurium bonding in WTe2 and its ternary variants TaIrTe4 and NbIrTe4. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114, 8963–8971 (1992).
(
10.1021/ja00049a029
) / J. Am. Chem. Soc. by A Mar (1992) -
Souza, I., Marzari, N. & Vanderbilt, D. Maximally localized Wannier functions for entangled energy bands. Phys. Rev. B 65, 035109 (2001).
(
10.1103/PhysRevB.65.035109
) / Phys. Rev. B by I Souza (2001) -
Mostofi, A. A. et al. wannier90: A tool for obtaining maximally-localised Wannier functions. Comput. Phys. Commun. 178, 685–699 (2008).
(
10.1016/j.cpc.2007.11.016
) / Comput. Phys. Commun. by AA Mostofi (2008) -
Wu, Q., Zhang, S., Song, H.-F., Troyer, M. & Soluyanov, A. A. WannierTools: an open-source software package for novel topological materials. Comput. Phys. Commun. 224, 405–416 (2018).
(
10.1016/j.cpc.2017.09.033
) / Comput. Phys. Commun. by Q Wu (2018) -
Sancho, M. L., Sancho, J. L. & Rubio, J. Quick iterative scheme for the calculation of transfer matrices: application to Mo (100). J. Phys. F 14, 1205–1215 (1984).
(
10.1088/0305-4608/14/5/016
) / J. Phys. F by ML Sancho (1984) -
Sancho, M. L., Sancho, J. L., Sancho, J. L. & Rubio, J. Highly convergent schemes for the calculation of bulk and surface Green functions. J. Phys. F 15, 851–858 (1985).
(
10.1088/0305-4608/15/4/009
) / J. Phys. F by ML Sancho (1985)
Dates
Type | When |
---|---|
Created | 6 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 24, 2018, 7:50 a.m.) |
Deposited | 2 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 20, 2022, 1:33 p.m.) |
Indexed | 6 days, 3 hours ago (Aug. 23, 2025, 9:43 p.m.) |
Issued | 6 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 28, 2018) |
Published | 6 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 28, 2018) |
Published Online | 6 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 28, 2018) |
Funders
1
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
10.13039/501100004052
Region: Asia
pri (Universities (academic only))
Labels
2
- جامعة الملك عبدالله للعلوم والتقنية
- KAUST
Awards
2
- CRF-2015-2626-RG4
- CRF-2015-SENSORS-2709
@article{Li_2018, title={Spin-momentum locking and spin-orbit torques in magnetic nano-heterojunctions composed of Weyl semimetal WTe2}, volume={9}, ISSN={2041-1723}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06518-1}, DOI={10.1038/s41467-018-06518-1}, number={1}, journal={Nature Communications}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Li, Peng and Wu, Weikang and Wen, Yan and Zhang, Chenhui and Zhang, Junwei and Zhang, Senfu and Yu, Zhiming and Yang, Shengyuan A. and Manchon, A. and Zhang, Xi-xiang}, year={2018}, month=sep }