Mixed Weyl semimetals and low-dissipation magnetization control in insulators by spin-orbit torques.

ABSTRACT: Reliable and energy-efficient magnetization switching by electrically induced spin-orbit torques is of crucial technological relevance for spintronic devices implementing memory and logic functionality. Here we predict that the strength of spin-orbit torques and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in topologically nontrivial magnetic insulators can exceed by far that of conventional metals. In analogy to the quantum anomalous Hall effect, we explain this extraordinary response in the absence of longitudinal currents as hallmark of monopoles in the electronic structure of systems that are interpreted most naturally within the framework of mixed Weyl semimetals. We thereby launch the effect of spin-orbit torque into the field of topology and reveal its crucial role in mediating the topolog

SUBMITTER: Hanke JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5684220 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature