BJ11313

SPINTRONICS WITH ANTIFERROMAGNETS

Nanoscale magnetic devices whose state is controlled by a
spin-polarized current now being extensively explored both for probing
the fundamental physics of magnetic dynamics, and for applications in
storage technology. Key elements of the spintronic devices, that
enable information coding, control and manipulation by an electric
current, are two ferromagnetic layers. However, recent experiments
clearly demonstrate that the spin-polarized current may also
influence the state of another, generally accessory, element of a
nanodevice – an antiferromagnet, that shows no bare macroscopic
magnetization but still has a magnetic structure. In the present paper
we report on a nontrivial magnetic dynamics of thin antiferromagnetic
layer subjected to a spin torque from the electric current.
Comparatively high sensitivity of antiferromagnetic layer to a
spin-polarized current allows improvement of the switching process in
the whole device and opens the way to increase the speed of
reading/writing. In the presence of steady current an
antiferromagnetic layer successfully "works" as a high-frequency
oscillator and thus can be considered as a promising candidate for the
magnetic bit with no magnetic moment.