title: Spin-orbit torque-assisted switching in magnetic insulator thin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.
abstract: As an in-plane charge current flows in a heavy metal film with spin-orbit coupling, it produces a torque on and thereby switches the magnetization in a neighbouring ferromagnetic metal film. Such spin-orbit torque (SOT)-induced switching has been studied extensively in recent years and has shown higher efficiency than switching using conventional spin-transfer torque. Here we report the SOT-assisted switching in heavy metal/magnetic insulator systems. The experiments used a Pt/BaFe12O19 bilayer where the BaFe12O19 layer exhibits perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. As a charge current is passed through the Pt film, it produces a SOT that can control the up and down states of the remnant magnetization in the BaFe12O19 film when the film is magnetized by an in-plane magnetic field. It can reduce or increase the switching field of the BaFe12O19 film by as much as about 500 Oe when the film is switched with an out-of-plane field.
authors: Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Peng
authors: P
authors: Li
authors: Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Tao
authors: T
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Houchen
authors: H
authors: Chang
authors: MINT Center, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401, USA.
authors: Alan
authors: A
authors: Kalitsov
authors: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois, 60439, USA.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors: Gyorgy
authors: G
authors: Csaba
authors: Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Li
authors: Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Richardson
authors: Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: August
authors: A
authors: DeMann
authors: Department of Physics &Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA.
authors: Gaurab
authors: G
authors: Rimal
authors: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors: Himadri
authors: H
authors: Dey
authors: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois, 60439, USA.
authors: J S
authors: JS
authors: Jiang
authors: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Porod
authors: Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Stuart B
authors: SB
authors: Field
authors: Department of Physics &Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA.
authors: Jinke
authors: J
authors: Tang
authors: Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Mario C
authors: MC
authors: Marconi
authors: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois, 60439, USA.
authors: Axel
authors: A
authors: Hoffmann
authors: MINT Center, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401, USA.
authors: Oleg
authors: O
authors: Mryasov
authors: Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors: Mingzhong
authors: M
authors: Wu