We studied the effect of inserting 0.5 nm-thick spacer layers (Ti, V, Cr, Mo, W) at the Pt/Co interface on the spin-orbit torques, Hall effect, magnetoresistance, saturation magnetization, and magnetic anisotropy. We find that the damping-like spin-orbit torque decreases substantially for all samples with a spacer layer compared to the reference Pt/Co bilayer, consistently with the opposite sign of the atomic spin-orbit coupling constant of the spacer elements relative to Pt. The reduction of the damping-like torque is monotonic with atomic number for the isoelectronic 3d, 4d, and 5d elements, with the exception of V that has a stronger effect than Cr. The field-like spin-orbit torque almost vanishes for all spacer layers irrespective of their composition, suggesting that this torque predominantly originates at the Pt/Co interface. The anomalous Hall effect, magnetoresistance, and saturation magnetization are also all reduced substantially, whereas the sheet resistance is increased in the presence of the spacer layer. Finally, we evidence a correlation between the amplitude of the spin-orbit torques, the spin Hall-like magnetoresistance, and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.These results highlight the significant influence of ultrathin spacer layers on the magnetotransport properties of heavy metal/ferromagnetic systems.
I -INTRODUCTIONCurrent-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) have emerged as a powerful tool to manipulate the magnetization of heavy metal/ferromagnet (HM/FM) bilayers characterized by strong spin-orbit coupling and structural inversion asymmetry 1-8 . Interfaces play a crucial role in determining the strength and symmetries of SOTs 7,9-11 , as well as other interface-related spin transport and dynamic effects such as the spin Hall 12 and Rashba-Edelstein magnetoresistance 13 , unidirectional magnetoresistance 14-20 , spin Seebeck effect 21 , spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance 22 , and spin pumping [23][24][25] . Additionally, interfaces in thin film structures play a dominant role in many other magnetic and electrical properties such as perpendicular magnetic anisotropy 26-30 , proximity magnetism 30-33 , anisotropic magnetoresistance 34-37 , and anomalous Hall effect [38][39][40][41][42][43] .The damping-like (DL) and field-like (FL) SOT are manifestations of the spin accumulation generated by an in-plane charge current flowing through HM/FM bilayers 9,44-46 . The most widely used HM layers are 5d elements such as Pt, Ta or W (Refs. 2,4,6,7,45,[47][48][49][50][51] ), although, more recently, lighter metals such as V, Cr, Mo, and Pd have also been shown to generate substantial SOTs 52-55 . The SOTs in HM/FM heterostructures originate from the spin Hall effect (SHE) in the bulk of the HM and from interfacial spin currents arising from spin-dependent scattering and Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling due to broken structural inversion symmetry 7,56-61 . All such effects generate a spin accumulation at the HM/FM interface that contributes to both types of torques 62 . Independent of their origins, S...