Antiferromagnets are hard to control by external magnetic fields because of the alternating directions of magnetic moments on individual atoms and the resulting zero net magnetization. However, relativistic quantum mechanics allows for generating current-induced internal fields whose sign alternates with the periodicity of the antiferromagnetic lattice. Using these fields, which couple strongly to the antiferromagnetic order, we demonstrate room-temperature electrical switching between stable configurations in antiferromagnetic CuMnAs thin-film devices by applied current with magnitudes of order 10(6) ampere per square centimeter. Electrical writing is combined in our solid-state memory with electrical readout and the stored magnetic state is insensitive to and produces no external magnetic field perturbations, which illustrates the unique merits of antiferromagnets for spintronics.

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We investigate the influence of Meissner screening and trapped magnetic flux on magnetization dynamics for a Ni80Fe20 film sandwiched between two thick Nb layers (100 nm) using broadband (5-20 GHz) ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy. Below the superconducting transition Tc of Nb, significant zerofrequency line broadening (5-6 mT) and DC resonance field shift (50 mT) to a low field are both observed if the Nb thickness is comparable to the London penetration depth of Nb films (≥ 100 nm). We attribute the observed peculiar behaviors to the increased incoherent precession near the Ni80Fe20/Nb interfaces and the effectively focused magnetic flux in the middle Ni80Fe20 caused by strong Meissner screening and (defect-)trapped flux of the thick adjacent Nb layers. This explanation is supported by static magnetic properties of the samples and comparison with FMR data on thick Nb/Ni80Fe20 bilayers. Great care should therefore be taken in the analysis of FMR response in ferromagnetic Josephson structures with thick superconductors, a fundamental property for high-frequency device applications of spin-polarized supercurrents.