Using spin-polarized low energy electron microscopy, we discovered a new type of domain wall structure in perpendicularly magnetized bilayers grown epitaxially on Cu(100). Specifically, we observed unexpected Néel-type walls with fixed chirality in the magnetic stripe phase. Furthermore, we find that the chirality of the domain walls is determined by the film growth order with the chirality being right handed in bilayers and left handed in bilayers, suggesting that the underlying mechanism is the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction at the film interfaces. Our observations may open a new route to control chiral spin structures using interfacial engineering in transition metal heterostructures.
Novel mechanisms for electromagnetic wave emission in the terahertz frequency regime emerging at the nanometer scale have recently attracted intense attention for the purpose of searching next-generation broadband THz emitters. Here, we report broadband THz emission, utilizing the interface inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect. By engineering the symmetry of the Rashba interface, we demonstrate a controllable THz radiation () waveform emitted from metallic heterostructures following photoexcitation. We further reveal that this type of THz radiation can be selectively superimposed on the emission discovered recently due to the inverse spin Hall effect, yielding a unique film thickness dependent emission pattern. Our results thus offer new opportunities for versatile broadband THz radiation using the interface quantum effects.
We report a giant electric-field control of magnetization (M) as well as magnetic anisotropy in a Co40Fe40B20(CoFeB)/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.7Ti0.3O3(PMN-PT) structure at room temperature, in which a maximum relative magnetization change (ΔM/M) up to 83% with a 90° rotation of the easy axis under electric fields were observed by different magnetic measurement systems with in-situ electric fields. The mechanism for this giant magnetoelectric (ME) coupling can be understood as the combination of the ultra-high value of anisotropic in-plane piezoelectric coefficients of (011)-cut PMN-PT due to ferroelectric polarization reorientation and the perfect soft ferromagnetism without magnetocrystalline anisotropy of CoFeB film. Besides the giant electric-field control of magnetization and magnetic anisotropy, this work has also demonstrated the feasibility of reversible and deterministic magnetization reversal controlled by pulsed electric fields with the assistance of a weak magnetic field, which is important for realizing strain-mediated magnetoelectric random access memories.