5 Spintronics and Synchrotron Radiation
147
The voltage control of magnetization is obviously less mature than STT or spinorbit torque (SOT) technologies. However, the large variety of ferromagnets (metals,
semiconductors, oxides) and gating materials (dielectric, ferroelectric, electrolyte)
that can be used, makes this field fascinating and promising to reduce power consumption in memory technologies, which remains still a crucial issue.
5.1.4 Summary
We have introduced some breakthroughs in the field of spintronics achieved during the last 30 years. Giant magnetoresistance has emerged rapidly as a promising
effect to build efficient magnetic sensors working at room temperature. The ability
to manipulate magnetization by STT in MTJs has allowed developing new magnetic
memories such as MRAMs that are now commercially available. This is of course not
exhaustive and there are a lot of other exciting and promising research fields such as
spin-orbitronics, magnonics, molecular spintronics or antiferromagnetic spintronics,
to cite only few of them. Spin-orbitronics is certainly the most active field nowadays.
Emblematic topics are conversion between charge and spin currents, spin-polarized
surface and interface states or novel chiral magnetic textures (skyrmions and domain
walls). See for example A. Soumyanarayanan et al. for a review [36].
In all the spintronic effects that we have just introduced, like in many other fields,
interfaces play a key role, and therefore a deep knowledge of the electronic and
magnetic properties of these interfaces is desired. Synchrotron radiation-based measurements such as absorption and photoelectron spectroscopies and microscopies are
powerful techniques to probe these interfaces.
5.2 Examples of Synchrotron Radiation Contribution to
Spintronics
In the following, several examples for which synchrotron radiation-based measurements have allowed a better understanding of spintronic devices are presented. We
have selected three spintronics topics: (i) voltage control of magnetism; (ii) spintronics with pure spin currents; (iii) current-driven magnetization dynamics.
147
The voltage control of magnetization is obviously less mature than STT or spinorbit torque (SOT) technologies. However, the large variety of ferromagnets (metals,
semiconductors, oxides) and gating materials (dielectric, ferroelectric, electrolyte)
that can be used, makes this field fascinating and promising to reduce power consumption in memory technologies, which remains still a crucial issue.
5.1.4 Summary
We have introduced some breakthroughs in the field of spintronics achieved during the last 30 years. Giant magnetoresistance has emerged rapidly as a promising
effect to build efficient magnetic sensors working at room temperature. The ability
to manipulate magnetization by STT in MTJs has allowed developing new magnetic
memories such as MRAMs that are now commercially available. This is of course not
exhaustive and there are a lot of other exciting and promising research fields such as
spin-orbitronics, magnonics, molecular spintronics or antiferromagnetic spintronics,
to cite only few of them. Spin-orbitronics is certainly the most active field nowadays.
Emblematic topics are conversion between charge and spin currents, spin-polarized
surface and interface states or novel chiral magnetic textures (skyrmions and domain
walls). See for example A. Soumyanarayanan et al. for a review [36].
In all the spintronic effects that we have just introduced, like in many other fields,
interfaces play a key role, and therefore a deep knowledge of the electronic and
magnetic properties of these interfaces is desired. Synchrotron radiation-based measurements such as absorption and photoelectron spectroscopies and microscopies are
powerful techniques to probe these interfaces.
5.2 Examples of Synchrotron Radiation Contribution to
Spintronics
In the following, several examples for which synchrotron radiation-based measurements have allowed a better understanding of spintronic devices are presented. We
have selected three spintronics topics: (i) voltage control of magnetism; (ii) spintronics with pure spin currents; (iii) current-driven magnetization dynamics.