Multiple-stable anisotropic magnetoresistance memory in antiferromagnetic MnTe
spintronics
Condensed Matter - Materials Science
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Science
Q
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
FOS: Physical sciences
02 engineering and technology
01 natural sciences
Article
Applied physics
Magnetic properties and materials
0103 physical sciences
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
Ferromagnetism
anisotropic magnetoresistance
antiferromagnets
0210 nano-technology
DOI:
10.1038/ncomms11623
Publication Date:
2016-06-09T13:53:17Z
AUTHORS (13)
ABSTRACT
AbstractCommercial magnetic memories rely on the bistability of ordered spins in ferromagnetic materials. Recently, experimental bistable memories have been realized using fully compensated antiferromagnetic metals. Here we demonstrate a multiple-stable memory device in epitaxial MnTe, an antiferromagnetic counterpart of common II–VI semiconductors. Favourable micromagnetic characteristics of MnTe allow us to demonstrate a smoothly varying zero-field antiferromagnetic anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) with a harmonic angular dependence on the writing magnetic field angle, analogous to ferromagnets. The continuously varying AMR provides means for the electrical read-out of multiple-stable antiferromagnetic memory states, which we set by heat-assisted magneto-recording and by changing the writing field direction. The multiple stability in our memory is ascribed to different distributions of domains with the Néel vector aligned along one of the three magnetic easy axes. The robustness against strong magnetic field perturbations combined with the multiple stability of the magnetic memory states are unique properties of antiferromagnets.
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