Inverse orbital Hall effect in light metal Cr films

CHEN Feng; WANG Ping; ZHANG Zhijia; HE Kang; FENG Zheng; ZHANG Delin

doi:10.7498/aps.74.20250346

Abstract

Orbitronic devices have aroused considerable interest due to their unique advantage of being independent of strong spin-orbit coupling. Light metal chromium (Cr) with high orbital Hall conductivity has significant potential for application in orbit-spintronic devices. In this study, we present experimental verification of the inverse orbital Hall effect (IOHE) in Cr thin films and systematically investigate the underlying physical mechanisms of orbital-to-charge current conversion. The Cr/Ni and Pt/Ni heterostructures are fabricated on Al₂O₃ substrates via magnetron sputtering. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy is employed to measure the terahertz emission signal. The Cr/Ni heterostructure exhibits the same positive terahertz polarity as the ISHE-dominant Pt/Ni heterostructure, despite the Cr layer owing negative spin Hall angle, which confirms the IOHE of Cr/Ni heterostructure. In the Cr/Ni heterostructures, femtosecond laser excitation generates spin current in the ferromagnetic Ni layer, which is converted into orbital current via its spin-orbit coupling. This orbital current propagates into the Cr layer where it is transformed into charge current through the IOHE. Furthermore, the increase of the Cr thickness (2–40 nm) weakens the terahertz emission of Cr/Ni heterostructures due to enhanced optical absorption of Cr layers reducing spin current generation in Ni layers. However, the optimization of Ni thickness (3–10 nm) significantly enhances the terahertz emission by improving the spin-to-orbital current conversion efficiency. This work provides experimental evidence for IOHE in Cr films and demonstrates the crucial role of ferromagnetic layer engineering in spin-to-orbital current conversion efficiency, providing innovative perspectives for designing and optimizing the performance of orbitronic devices.

Keywords:

Authors and contacts

1.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
2.
School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
3.
Microsystem and Terahertz Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Chengdu 610200, China
4.
Cangzhou Institute of Tiangong University, Cangzhou 061000, China

Corresponding author: WANG Ping, pingwang@tiangong.edu.cn ; ZHANG Zhijia, zhangzhijia@tiangong.edu.cn ; HE Kang, hekang_mtrc@caep.cn ;

Funds: Project supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFA1204003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52271240, 62027807), the Key R&D Program of Cangzhou City, China (Grant No. 222104008), and the Hebei Natural Science Foundation, China (Grant No. E2023110012).

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References

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Cited By

图 1 (a) Al₂O₃/Cr (40 nm), (b) Al₂O₃/Cr (10 nm)/Ni (5 nm)和(c) Al₂O₃/Cr (40 nm)/Ni (5 nm)的原子力显微镜图像

Figure 1. AFM images of (a) Al₂O₃/Cr (40 nm), (b) Al₂O₃/Cr (10 nm)/Ni (5 nm) and (c) Al₂O₃/Cr (40 nm)/Ni (5 nm) samples

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 2 (a)—(e) Cr (2—40 nm)/Ni (5 nm)结构的太赫兹信号

Figure 2. (a)–(e) The THz signals of the Cr (2–40 nm)/Ni (5 nm) structures.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 3 (a) Pt (1 nm)/Ni (5 nm)和(b) Pt (3 nm)/Ni (5 nm)结构的太赫兹信号

Figure 3. The THz signals of the (a) Pt (1 nm)/Ni (5 nm) and (b) Pt (3 nm)/Ni (5 nm) structures

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 4 (a) Cr (10 nm)/Ni (3 nm), (b) Cr (10 nm)/Ni (5 nm)和(c) Cr (10 nm)/Ni (10 nm)结构的太赫兹信号

Figure 4. The THz signals of the (a) Cr (10 nm)/Ni (3 nm) structures, (b) Cr (10 nm)/Ni (5 nm) and (c) Cr (10 nm)/Ni (10 nm) structures

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 5 (a) Cr/Ni结构中IOHE机制; (b) Pt/Ni结构中ISHE机制

Figure 5. (a) Mechanism of IOHE in Cr/Ni structures; (b) mechanism of ISHE in Pt/Ni structures.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

[1]	Choi Y G, Jo D, Ko K H, Go D, Kim K H, Park H G, Kim C, Min B C, Choi G M, Lee H W 2023 Nature 619 52 Google Scholar
[2]	Go D, Jo D, Kim C, Lee H W 2018 Phys. Rev. Lett. 121 086602 Google Scholar
[3]	Jo D, Go D, Lee H W 2018 Phys. Rev. B 98 214405 Google Scholar
[4]	Sala G, Gambardella P 2022 Phys. Rev. Res. 4 033037 Google Scholar
[5]	Go D, Jo D, Kim K W, Lee S, Kang M G, Park B G, Blügel S, Lee H W, Mokrousov Y 2023 Phys. Rev. Lett. 130 246701 Google Scholar
[6]	Zhang J, Xie H, Zhang X, Yan Z, Zhai Y, Chi J, Xu H, Zuo Y, Xi L 2022 Appl. Phys. Lett. 121 172405 Google Scholar
[7]	Canonico L M, Cysne T P, Rappoport T G, Muniz R B 2020 Phys. Rev. B 101 075429 Google Scholar
[8]	Sala G, Wang H, Legrand W, Gambardella P 2023 Phys. Rev. Lett. 131 156703 Google Scholar
[9]	Zheng Z, Zeng T, Zhao T, Shi S, Ren L, Zhang T, Jia L, Gu Y, Xiao R, Zhou H, Zhang Q, Lu J, Wang G, Zhao C, Li H, Tay B K, Chen J 2024 Nat. Commun. 15 745 Google Scholar
[10]	Sahu P, Bhowal S, Satpathy S 2021 Phys. Rev. B 103 085113 Google Scholar
[11]	Kontani H, Tanaka T, Hirashima D S, Yamada K, Inoue J 2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 016601 Google Scholar
[12]	Tanaka T, Kontani H, Naito M, Naito T, Hirashima D S, Yamada K, Inoue J 2008 Phys. Rev. B 77 165117 Google Scholar
[13]	Salemi L, Oppeneer P M 2022 Phys. Rev. Mater. 6 095001 Google Scholar
[14]	Hayashi H, Jo D, Go D, Gao T, Haku S, Mokrousov Y, Lee H W, Ando K 2023 Commun. Phys. 6 32 Google Scholar
[15]	Seifert T, Jaiswal S, Martens U, Hannegan J, Braun L, Maldonado P, Freimuth F, Kronenberg A, Henrizi J, Radu I, Beaurepaire E, Mokrousov Y, Oppeneer P M, Jourdan M, Jakob G, Turchinovich D, Hayden L M, Wolf M, Münzenberg M, Kläui M, Kampfrath T 2016 Nat. Photonics 10 483 Google Scholar
[16]	Zhu L, Buhrman R A 2021 Phys. Rev. Appl. 15 L031001 Google Scholar
[17]	Feng Z, Qiu H, Wang D, Zhang C, Sun S, Jin B, Tan W 2021 J. Appl. Phys. 129 010901 Google Scholar
[18]	Lee S, Kang M G, Go D, Kim D, Kang J H, Lee T, Lee G H, Kang J, Lee N J, Mokrousov Y, Kim S, Kim K J, Lee K J, Park B G 2021 Commun. Phys. 4 234 Google Scholar
[19]	Guo Y, Zhang Y, Lü W, Wang B, Zhang B, Cao J 2023 Appl. Phys. Lett. 123 022408 Google Scholar
[20]	Xie H, Chang Y, Guo X, Zhang J, Cui B, Zuo Y, Xi L 2023 Chin. Phys. B 32 037502 Google Scholar
[21]	Lyu H C, Zhao Y C, Qi J, Yang G, Qin W D, Shao B K, Zhang Y, Hu C Q, Wang K, Zhang Q Q, Zhang J Y, Zhu T, Long Y W, Wei H X, Shen B G, Wang S G 2022 J. Appl. Phys. 132 013901 Google Scholar
[22]	Xie H, Zhang N, Ma Y, Chen X, Ke L, Wu Y 2023 Nano Lett. 23 10274 Google Scholar
[23]	Go D, Lee H W, Oppeneer P M, Blügel S, Mokrousov Y 2024 Phys. Rev. B 109 174435 Google Scholar
[24]	Lee D, Go D, Park H J, Jeong W, Ko H W, Yun D, Jo D, Lee S, Go G, Oh J H, Kim K J, Park B G, Min B C, Koo H C, Lee H W, Lee O, Lee K J 2021 Nat. Commun. 12 6710 Google Scholar
[25]	Lyalin I, Alikhah S, Berritta M, Oppeneer P M, Kawakami R K 2023 Phys. Rev. Lett. 131 156702 Google Scholar
[26]	Wang P, Feng Z, Yang Y, Zhang D, Liu Q, Xu Z, Jia Z, Wu Y, Yu G, Xu X, Jiang Y 2023 npj Quantum Mater. 8 28 Google Scholar
[27]	Seifert T S, Go D, Hayashi H, Rouzegar R, Freimuth F, Ando K, Mokrousov Y, Kampfrath T 2023 Nat. Nanotechnol. 18 1132 Google Scholar
[28]	Kumar S, Kumar S 2023 Nat. Commun. 14 8185 Google Scholar
[29]	Xu Y, Zhang F, Fert A, Jaffres H Y, Liu Y, Xu R, Jiang Y, Cheng H, Zhao W 2024 Nat. Commun. 15 2043 Google Scholar
[30]	Mishra S S, Lourembam J, Lin D J X, Singh R 2024 Nat. Commun. 15 4568 Google Scholar
[31]	Wu Y, Elyasi M, Qiu X, Chen M, Liu Y, Ke L, Yang H 2016 Adv. Mater. 29 1603031 Google Scholar
[32]	Wang P, Chen F, Yang Y, Hu S, Li Y, Wang W, Zhang D, Jiang Y 2024 Adv. Electron. Mater. 11 2400554 Google Scholar

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