Orbital torque, associated with orbital current, enables light metals to efficiently manipulate magnetization with rich tunability. A clear demonstration of perpendicular magnetization switching using light metals alone is essential for understanding orbital physics and developing high-density orbitronic devices. Here, we report orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in light metal (Ti, V, Cr)/ferrimagnet (Fe1-xGdx) bilayers. Taking the Ti/ Fe1-xGdx sample as a model system, the torque efficiency increases four-fold by enhancing the spin-orbit coupling in Fe1-xGdx through modulating Gd composition, which is a characteristic feature of orbital torque. Our findings demonstrate that light metals in combination with rare earth-transition metal ferrimagnets can be employed for efficient orbitronic devices and serve as a model system for studying orbitronics.
@article{arxiv.2410.02238,
title = {Orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in light metal/ferrimagnet bilayers},
author = {Teng Xu and Aihua Tang and Kang Wang and Yizhou Liu and Haifeng Du},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.02238},
year = {2024}
}