Room temperature field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization through spin-orbit torque originating from low-symmetry type II Weyl semimetal

Abstract

Spin-orbit torque (SOT) is a promising strategy to deterministically switch the perpendicular magnetization, but usually requires an in-plane magnetic field for breaking the mirror symmetry, which is not suitable for most advanced industrial applications. Van der Waals (vdW) materials with low crystalline symmetry and topological band structures, e.g., Weyl semimetals (WSMs), potentially serve as an outstanding system that may simultaneously realize field-free switching and high energy efficiency. Yet, the demonstration of these superiorities at room temperature has not been realized. Here, we achieve a field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization by using a layered type II WSM, TaIrTe4, in a TaIrTe4/Ti/CoFeB system at room temperature with the critical switching current density ~2.4 × 106 A cm−2. The field-free switching is ascribed to the out-of-plane SOT allowed by the low crystal symmetry. Our work suggests that using low-symmetry materials to generate SOT is a promising route for the manipulation of perpendicular magnetization at room temperature.