Abstract
Unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR) is a magnetoresistance effect with potential applications to read two-terminal spin-orbit-torque (SOT) devices directly. In this work, we observed a large USMR value (up to 0.7 × 10-11 per A/cm2, 50% larger than reported values from heavy metals) in sputtered amorphous PtSn4/CoFeB bilayers. Ta/CoFeB bilayers with interfacial MgO insertion layers are deposited as control samples. The control experiments show that increasing the interfacial resistance can increase the USMR value, which is the case in PtSn4/CoFeB bilayers. The observation of a large USMR value in an amorphous spin-orbit-torque material has provided an alternative pathway for USMR application in two-terminal SOT devices.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 092401 |
| Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
| Volume | 121 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 29 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported, in part, by SMART, one of the seven centers of nCORE, a Semiconductor Research Corporation Program, sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and by the University of Minnesota (UMN) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Program under Award No. DMR-2011401. This work utilized the College of Science and Engineering (CSE) Characterization Facility at the University of Minnesota (UMN) supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the UMN Material Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Program. Portions of this work were conducted in the Minnesota Nano Center, which is supported by the National Science Foundation through the National Nano Coordinated Infrastructure Network (NNCI) under Award No. ECCS-2025124. D.Z. and T.J.P. are partially supported by ASCENT, one of six centers of JUMP, a Semiconductor Research Corporation program that is sponsored by MARCO and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). J.T.H. acknowledges support from a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship received from the graduate school at the University of Minnesota. J.-P.W. also acknowledges support from the Robert Hartmann Endowed Chair Professorship.
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