Field‐Free Switching of Perpendicular Magnetization by Anisotropic Spin Hall Effect in Mn₃Ir

Abstract

Manipulation of the magnetization by spin‐orbit torque (SOT) stands as a crucial advancement in spintronics due to its merits in energy‐efficient and high‐speed operation. However, the conventional SOT devices involving a heavy metal/ferromagnet cannot deterministically switch the perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnet without an external magnetic field, which hinders its practical implementation. Here, room temperature field‐free switching for perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnets is demonstrated using spin currents with the out‐of‐plane spin polarization induced by noncollinear antiferromagnets L12‐Mn3Ir. Both in‐plane and out‐of‐plane spin polarizations are observed, and the tilting angle of the spin polarization is estimated to be ≈10°. The spin Hall conductivity of out‐of‐plane spin is 1.43 × 104 ћ/2e·Ω−1m−1, which is the largest among several 2D and antiferromagnetic materials, including WTe2, RuO2, and Mn3GaN. Furthermore, field‐free SOT switching is demonstrated with an ns‐current pulse, and the current density is comparable with the reported values of the field‐assisted pulse switching. This work paves the way for employing noncollinear antiferromagnets for wafer‐scale spintronic device applications.