Spintronics: Antiferromagnetic materials show their hidden talents

Antiferromagnetic materials are only used for their magnetic properties in today’s spintronic systems—which is a shame! According to theory, at constant consumption, antiferromagnetic materials would be more efficient than ferromagnetic materials at generating spin-polarized currents, thereby reducing energy consumption.
To assess the potential of this new use of antiferromagnetic materials, you have to know the spin penetration length. This is no simple task given that the materials have zero net magnetization. Researchers at Spintec (a joint UGA, CEA-INAC, and CNRS lab) and Columbia University in New York managed to modify a low-ferromagnetic-resonance/spin-pumping technique and use it successfully on two commonly-used antiferromagnetic alloys, iridium-manganese and iron-manganese

 Contact: vincent.baltz@cea.fr

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