English

Nonlinear Magnetic Orbital Hall Effect Induced by Spin-Orbit Coupling

Materials Science 2026-04-06 v1

Abstract

Electrical readout of 180^\circ switching in strictly compensated collinear antiferromagnets remains a major challenge in antiferromagnetic spintronics. Electrical writing of perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnets by out-of-plane orbital torque remains an important challenge in orbitronics. In this work, we propose a second-order nonlinear magnetic orbital Hall effect in the source antiferromagnet as a simultaneous recipe for both difficulties. This orbitronics effect is induced by spin-orbit coupling and is odd in the N\'eel vector, thus is a unique effect that integrates both functionalities via electric control of the N\'eel vector in the source antiferromagnet. Our first-principles calculations in CuMnAs predict significant non-perturbative orbital effects from spin-orbit coupling, with a orbital Berry-curvature dipole mechanism. These findings unveil new possibilities opened by topological antiferromagnetic orbitronics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.02636,
  title  = {Nonlinear Magnetic Orbital Hall Effect Induced by Spin-Orbit Coupling},
  author = {Hui Wang and Huiying Liu and Yanfeng Ge and Xukun Feng and Jiaojiao Zhu and Jin Cao and Cong Xiao and Shengyuan A. Yang and Lay Kee Ang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.02636},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:52:12.522Z