Controlling the Interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction by Electrical Currents

Abstract

The recently discovered interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriyainteraction (IL-DMI) in multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropyfavors canting of spins in the in-plane direction. It could thus stabilizeintriguing spin textures such as Hopfions. A key requirement for nucleationis to control the IL-DMI. Therefore, we investigate the influenceof an electric current on a synthetic antiferromagnet with growth-inducedIL-DMI. The IL-DMI is quantified by using out-of-plane hysteresisloops of the anomalous Hall effect while applying a static in-planemagnetic field at varied azimuthal angles. We observe a shift in theazimuthal dependence with an increasing current, which we concludeto originate from the additional in-plane symmetry breaking introducedby the current flow. Fitting the angular dependence, we demonstratethe presence of an additive current-induced term that linearly increasesthe IL-DMI in the direction of current flow. This opens the possibilityof easily manipulating 3D spin textures by currents.