Electrical manipulation of ferromagnetic NiFe by antiferromagnetic IrMn

Abstract

We demonstrate that an antiferromagnet can be employed for a highly efficient electrical manipulation of a ferromagnet. In our study, we use an electrical detection technique of the ferromagnetic resonance driven by an in-plane ac current in a NiFe/IrMn bilayer. At room temperature, we observe antidampinglike spin torque acting on the NiFe ferromagnet, generated by an in-plane current driven through the IrMn antiferromagnet. A large enhancement of the torque, characterized by an effective spin-Hall angle exceeding most heavy transition metals, correlates with the presence of the exchange-bias field at the NiFe/IrMn interface. It highlights that, in addition to the strong spin-orbit coupling, the antiferromagnetic order in IrMn governs the observed phenomenon.