Long-range, Non-local Switching of Spin Textures in a Frustrated Antiferromagnet

Abstract

Antiferromagnetic spintronics is an emerging area of quantum technologies that leverage the coupling between spin and orbital degrees of freedom in exotic materials. Spin-orbit interactions allow spin or angular momentum to be injected via electrical stimuli to manipulate the spin texture of a material, enabling the storage of information and energy. In general, the physical process is intrinsically local: spin is carried by an electrical current, imparted into the magnetic system, and the spin texture then rotates. The collective excitations of complex spin textures have rarely been utilized in this context, even though they can in principle transport spin over much longer distances, using much lower power. In this study, we show that spin information can be transported and stored non-locally in the material Fe x NbS 2 . We propose that collective modes leverage the strong magnetoelastic coupling in the system to achieve this, revealing a novel way to store spin information in complex magnetic systems.

Structure and Magnetism of Iron- and Chromium-Intercalated Niobium and Tantalum Disulfides

“…82 It has also been recently observed that applied spin currents have a nonlocal effect on Fe x NbS 2 , impacting the spin texture tens of microns away, much further than is achievable with typical magnon decay in metallic AFMs. 83 This nonlocal behavior was attributed to collective excitations of the system's complex spin textures (i.e., reorientation of and interconversion between stripe and zigzag magnetic domains) driven by a large magnetoelastic coupling, which further highlights implications of the complex magnetic phase space of Fe x NbS 2 .…”

Bridging Structure, Magnetism, and Disorder in Iron-Intercalated Niobium Diselenide, FexNbSe2, below x = 0.25

“…Single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) data were obtained for single crystals at x = 0.14, 0.19, and 0.23 (Figure 1a−d), each yielding a hexagonal structure with the centrosymmetric space group P63/mmc. The out-of-plane lattice constant c was found to be 12.6011 (9), 12.6174(8), and 12.6498(8) Å for x = 0.14, 0.19, and 0.23, respectively, which are all slightly larger than that for 2H-NbSe 2 (c 0 = 12.547(3) Å), suggesting a very minor expansion upon Fe intercalation. 17 The in-plane lattice constant a, b for the x = 0.23 crystal was found to be 6.9151(4) Å, which is close to twice that of native 2H-NbSe 2 (a 0 = 3.4425(5) Å), and, similarly, the a, b lattice constant for the x = 0.19 sample was determined to be 6.9046(3) Å.…”

“…Notably, the aforementioned switching behavior in Fe x NbS 2 has been shown to be most pronounced when the compound is slightly offstoichiometric from x = 1/3, hinting that disorder in the intercalant superlattices of these compounds may play a role in the coupling between electrical and magnetic orders. 4,8,9 Here, we investigate how the Raman response evolves as a function of iron concentration in Fe x NbSe 2 , for 0.14 ≤ x < 0.25, finding a correlation between superlattice formation and iron occupancy. We also probe the magnetic behavior of these compounds and observe a maximum Neél temperature (T N ) around 130 K as x approaches 0.25.…”

“…1,4−9 A recent study showed that the electrical switching response in Fe x NbS 2 can be observed up to tens of microns away from the electrical stimulus, yet the mechanism behind the coherent spin transport required for this nonlocal effect is not well understood. 9 Such length scales are much longer than typical electron scattering and spin decay lengths, raising questions about magnetoelastic coupling in these systems and the identity of the collective excitations that propagate the spin information. Understanding the origin of this behavior, therefore, requires a deeper understanding of the lattice dynamics in these systems.…”

Structure and Magnetism of Iron- and Chromium-Intercalated Niobium and Tantalum Disulfides

“…82 It has also been recently observed that applied spin currents have a non-local effect on Fe x NbS 2 , impacting the spin texture tens of microns away, much further than is achievable with typical magnon decay in metallic AFMs. 83 This non-local behavior was attributed to collective excitations of the system's complex spin textures (i.e. reorientation of and inter-conversion between stripe and zig-zag magnetic domains) driven by a large magnetoelastic coupling, which further highlights implications of the complex magnetic phase space of Fe x NbS 2 .…”