English

Giant spin transfer torque in atomically thin magnetic bilayers

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2020-09-29 v2

Abstract

In cavity quantum electrodynamics, the multiple reflections of a photon between two mirrors defining a cavity is exploited to enhance the light-coupling of an intra-cavity atom. We show that this paradigm for enhancing the interaction of a flying particle with a localized object can be generalized to spintronics based on van der Waals 2D magnets. Upon tunneling through a magnetic bilayer, we find the spin transfer torques per electron incidence can become orders of magnitude larger than /2\hbar/2, made possible by electron's multi-reflection path through the ferromagnetic monolayers as an intermediate of their angular momentum transfer. Over a broad energy range around the tunneling resonances, the damping-like spin transfer torque per electron tunneling features a universal value of 2tanθ2\frac{\hbar}{2} \tan{\frac{\theta}{2}}, depending only on the angle θ\theta between the magnetizations. These findings expand the scope of magnetization manipulations for high-performance and high-density storage based on van der Waals magnets.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2009.06849,
  title  = {Giant spin transfer torque in atomically thin magnetic bilayers},
  author = {Weihao Cao and Matisse Wei-Yuan Tu and Jiang Xiao and Wang Yao},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.06849},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

Published as an Express Letter on Chinese Physics Letters

R2 v1 2026-06-23T18:32:45.503Z