Concepts of antiferromagnetic spintronics

Antiferromagnetic spintronics is an emerging research field whose focus is on the electrical, optical or other means of control of the antiferromagnetic order parameter and its utility in information technology devices. An example of recently discovered new concepts is the Néel spin-orbit torque which allows for the antiferromagnetic order parameter to be controlled by an electrical current in common microelectronic circuits. In this review we discuss the utility of antiferromagnets as active and supporting materials for spintronics, the interplay of antiferromagnetic spintronics with other modern research fields in condensed matter physics, and its utility in future "More than Moore" information technologies

Writing and Reading antiferromagnetic Mn2_2Au: N\'eel spin-orbit torques and large anisotropic magnetoresistance

Antiferromagnets are magnetically ordered materials which exhibit no net moment and thus are insensitive to magnetic fields. Antiferromagnetic spintronics aims to take advantage of this insensitivity for enhanced stability, while at the same time active manipulation up to the natural THz dynamic speeds of antiferromagnets is possible, thus combining exceptional storage density and ultra-fast switching. However, the active manipulation and read-out of the N\'eel vector (staggered moment) orientation is challenging. Recent predictions have opened up a path based on a new spin-orbit torque, which couples directly to the N\'eel order parameter. This N\'eel spin-orbit torque was first experimentally demonstrated in a pioneering work using semimetallic CuMnAs. Here we demonstrate for Mn$_2$Au, a good conductor with a high ordering temperature suitable for applications, reliable and reproducible switching using current pulses and readout by magnetoresistance measurements. The symmetry of the torques agrees with theoretical predictions and a large read-out magnetoresistance effect of more than $\simeq 6$~$\%$ is reproduced by ab initio transport calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

High antiferromagnetic domain wall velocity induced by Néel spin-orbit torques

We demonstrate the possibility to drive an antiferromagnetic domain wall at high velocities by fieldlike Néel spin-orbit torques. Such torques arise from current-induced local fields that alternate their orientation on each sublattice of the antiferromagnet and whose orientation depends primarily on the current direction, giving them their fieldlike character. The domain wall velocities that can be achieved by this mechanism are 2 orders of magnitude greater than the ones in ferromagnets. This arises from the efficiency of the staggered spin-orbit fields to couple to the order parameter and from the exchange-enhanced phenomena in antiferromagnetic texture dynamics, which leads to a low domain wall effective mass and the absence of a Walker breakdown limit. In addition, because of its nature, the staggered spin-orbit field can lift the degeneracy between two 180° rotated states in a collinear antiferromagnet, and it provides a force that can move such walls and control the switching of the states

Laser-driven quantum magnonics and THz dynamics of the order parameter in antiferromagnets

The impulsive generation of two-magnon modes in antiferromagnets by femtosecond optical pulses, so-called femto-nanomagnons, leads to coherent longitudinal oscillations of the antiferromagnetic order parameter that cannot be described by a thermodynamic Landau-Lifshitz approach. We argue that this dynamics is triggered as a result of a laser-induced modification of the exchange interaction. In order to describe the oscillations we have formulated a quantum mechanical description in terms of magnon pair operators and coherent states. Such an approach allowed us to} derive an effective macroscopic equation of motion for the temporal evolution of the antiferromagnetic order parameter. An implication of the latter is that the photo-induced spin dynamics represents a macroscopic entanglement of pairs of magnons with femtosecond period and nanometer wavelength. By performing magneto-optical pump-probe experiments with 10 femtosecond resolution in the cubic KNiF$_3$ and the uniaxial K$_2$NiF$_4$ collinear Heisenberg antiferromagnets, we observed coherent oscillations at the frequency of 22 THz and 16 THz, respectively. The detected frequencies as a function of the temperature ideally fit the two-magnon excitation up to the N\'eel point. The experimental signals are described as dynamics of magnetic linear dichroism due to longitudinal oscillations of the antiferromagnetic vector.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figure

Magnetoelastic nature of solid oxygen epsilon-phase structure

For a long time a crystal structure of high-pressure epsilon-phase of solid oxygen was a mistery. Basing on the results of recent experiments that have solved this riddle we show that the magnetic and crystal structure of epsilon-phase can be explained by strong exchange interactions of antiferromagnetic nature. The singlet state implemented on quaters of O2 molecules has the minimal exchange energy if compared to other possible singlet states (dimers, trimers). Magnetoelastic forces that arise from the spatial dependence of the exchange integral give rise to transformation of 4(O2) rhombuses into the almost regular quadrates. Antiferromagnetic character of the exchange interactions stabilizes distortion of crystal lattice in epsilon-phase and impedes such a distortion in long-range alpha- and delta-phases.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, Changes: corrected typos, reference to the recent paper is adde

Evidence of non-degenerated, non-reciprocal and ultra-fast spin-waves in the canted antiferromagnet {\alpha}-Fe2O3

Spin-waves in antiferromagnets hold the prospects for the development of faster, less power-hungry electronics, as well as new physics based on spin-superfluids and coherent magnon-condensates. For both these perspectives, addressing electrically coherent antiferromagnetic spin-waves is of importance, a prerequisite that has so far been elusive, because unlike ferromagnets, antiferromagnets couple weakly to radiofrequency fields. Here, we demonstrate the electrical detection of ultra-fast non-reciprocal spin-waves in the dipolar-exchange regime of a canted antiferromagnet. Using time-of-flight spin-wave spectroscopy on hematite (alpha-Fe2O3), we find that the magnon wave packets can propagate as fast as 30 km/s for reciprocal bulk spin-wave modes and up to 10 km/s for surface-spin waves propagating parallel to the antiferromagnetic N\'eel vector. The electrical detection of coherent non-reciprocal antiferromagnetic spin waves holds makes hematite a versatile platform where most of the magnonic concepts developed for ferromagnet can be adapted paving the way for the development antiferromagnetic and altermagnet-based magnonic devices