Interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in spintronics
Abstract The indirect interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) between two magnetic layers holds significant importance in development of spintronics. Recently, the interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), antisymmetric counterpart of IEC, has been theoretically predicted and experimentally obs...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-06-01
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| Series: | npj Spintronics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44306-025-00091-2 |
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| Summary: | Abstract The indirect interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) between two magnetic layers holds significant importance in development of spintronics. Recently, the interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), antisymmetric counterpart of IEC, has been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed in plenty of magnetic trilayer structures with a nonmagnetic spacing layer. The interlayer DMI favors the orthogonal alignment of the spins or magnetizations throughout the entire multilayer mainly due to the mediation of heavy-metal atoms with strong spin-orbit coupling. Beyond the conventional two-dimensional spin texture driven by intralayer DMI, the existence of interlayer DMI enables the formation of three-dimensional (3D) chiral spin textures. In this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive review of theory model, fundamental properties, manipulation and potential application of interlayer DMI in future spin-based memory and logic devices. Due to the inversion symmetry breaking of the magnetic reversal process, an intriguing phenomenon called chiral exchange bias has been demonstrated. The strength of interlayer DMI exhibits a strong dependence on the azimuthal angle, spacer thickness, spacer material and even magnetization configuration. More importantly, it has been revealed that the interlayer DMI could break the in-plane symmetry and thus facilitate field-free spin-orbit torque switching of perpendicular magnetization. Therefore, this novel interaction provides a fundamental approach for designing and all-electrically manipulation of 3D chiral spin structure. The conclusions and outlooks are also given to inspire more in-depth research and advance the practical applications. |
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| ISSN: | 2948-2119 |