We present a comprehensive study of the current-induced spin-orbit torques in perpendicularly magnetized Ta/CoFeB/MgO layers. The samples were annealed in steps up to 300°C and characterized using x-ray-absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, resistivity, and Hall effect measurements. By performing adiabatic harmonic Hall voltage measurements, we show that the transverse (fieldlike) and longitudinal (antidampinglike) spin-orbit torques are composed of constant and magnetization-dependent contributions, both of which vary strongly with annealing. Such variations correlate with changes of the saturation magnetization and magnetic anisotropy and are assigned to chemical and structural modifications of the layers. The relative variation of the constant and anisotropic torque terms as a function of annealing temperature is opposite for the fieldlike and antidamping torques. Measurements of the switching probability using sub-μs current pulses show that the critical current increases with the magnetic anisotropy of the layers, whereas the switching efficiency, measured as the ratio of magnetic anisotropy energy and pulse energy, decreases. The optimal annealing temperature to achieve maximum magnetic anisotropy, saturation magnetization, and switching efficiency is determined to be between 240 and 270°C.

Taking the measure of a magnet The recent discovery of magnetism in two-dimensional (2D) materials has inspired efforts to understand its nature. Whereas the magnetism of monolayers of chromium iodide (CrI 3 ) can be understood in terms of out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy, the related material chromium chloride (CrCl 3 ) has spins that lie in the plane. Bedoya-Pinto et al . used molecular beam epitaxy to grow monolayers of CrCl 3 on graphene and studied its magnetic properties. Using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements, the authors found that monolayer CrCl 3 is a ferromagnet, unlike bulk CrCl 3 , which is antiferromagnetic. The scaling of the signal in the critical region indicated that the material belongs to the 2D-XY universality class, distinct from Ising magnetism, which some other 2D magnets exhibit. —JS

A major challenge for future spintronics is to develop suitable spin transport channels with long spin lifetime and propagation length. Graphene can meet these requirements, even at room temperature. On the other side, taking advantage of the fast motion of chiral textures, that is, Néel-type domain walls and magnetic skyrmions, can satisfy the demands for high-density data storage, low power consumption, and high processing speed. We have engineered epitaxial structures where an epitaxial ferromagnetic Co layer is sandwiched between an epitaxial Pt(111) buffer grown in turn onto MgO(111) substrates and a graphene layer. We provide evidence of a graphene-induced enhancement of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy up to 4 nm thick Co films and of the existence of chiral left-handed Néel-type domain walls stabilized by the effective Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in the stack. The experiments show evidence of a sizable DMI at the gr/Co interface, which is described in terms of a conduction electron mediated Rashba-DMI mechanism and points opposite to the spin orbit coupling-induced DMI at the Co/Pt interface. In addition, the presence of graphene results in (i) a surfactant action for the Co growth, producing an intercalated, flat, highly perfect face-centered cubic film, pseudomorphic with Pt and (ii) an efficient protection from oxidation. The magnetic chiral texture is stable at room temperature and grown on insulating substrate. Our findings open new routes to control chiral spin structures using interfacial engineering in graphene-based systems for future spin-orbitronics devices fully integrated on oxide substrates.

The optical design of the BOREAS beamline operating at the ALBA synchrotron radiation facility is described. BOREAS is dedicated to resonant X-ray absorption and scattering experiments using soft X-rays, in an unusually extended photon energy range from 80 to above 4000 eV, and with full polarization control. Its optical scheme includes a fixed-included-angle, variable-line-spacing grating monochromator and a pair of refocusing mirrors, equipped with benders, in a Kirkpatrick-Baez arrangement. It is equipped with two end-stations, one for X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and the other for resonant magnetic scattering. The commissioning results show that the expected beamline performance is achieved both in terms of energy resolution and of photon flux at the sample position.

The layered van der Waals antiferromagnet MnBi2Te4 has been predicted to combine the band ordering of archetypical topological insulators like Bi2Te3 with the magnetism of Mn, making this material a viable candidate for the realization of various magnetic topological states. We have systematically investigated the surface electronic structure of MnBi2Te4(0001) single crystals by use of spin-and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments. In line with theoretical predictions, the results reveal a surface state in the bulk band gap and they provide evidence for the influence of exchange interaction and spin-orbit coupling on the surface electronic structure.The hallmark of a topological insulator is a single spinpolarized Dirac cone at the surface which is protected by time reversal-symmetry and originates from a band inversion in the bulk [1,2]. Notably, breaking time-reversal symmetry by magnetic order does not necessarily destroy the non-trivial topology but instead may drive the system into another topological phase. One example is the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state that has been observed in magnetically doped topological insulators [3]. The QAH state, in turn, may form the basis for yet more exotic electronic states, such as axion insulators [4,5] and chiral Majorana fermions [6]. Another example is the antiferromagnetic topological insulator state which is protected by a combination of time-reversal and lattice translational symmetries [7].Magnetic order in a topological insulator has mainly been achieved by doping with 3d impurities [3,8], which however inevitably gives rise to increased disorder. By contrast, the layered van der Waals material MnBi 2 Te 4 [9, 10] has recently been proposed to realize an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator [11][12][13][14], i.e. a compound that features magnetic order and a topologically non-trivial bulk band structure at the arXiv:1903.11826v2 [cond-mat.str-el]