Orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in Ti/ferrimagnet bilayers

Teng Xu; Aihua Tang; Kang Wang; Wensen Wei; Yizhou Liu; Haifeng Du

doi:10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2025.100158

The Innovation Materials > 2025 Vol. 3 > No. 4 > 100158

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Orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in Ti/ferrimagnet bilayers

1.
Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Low-Energy Quantum Materials and Devices, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
2.
Science Island Branch of Graduate School, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China

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Corresponding authors: txu@hmfl.ac.cn (T.X.); duhf@hmfl.ac.cn (H.D.)
Received Date: June 06, 2025

Accepted Date: August 18, 2025

Published Online: August 22, 2025

The Innovation Materials 3(4), https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2025.100158 | Cite this article

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PUBLIC SUMMARY
1. The orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization is achieved in Ti/ferrimagnet bilayer.
  
  The current-induced orbital torque originates from the bulk orbital Hall effect in the light metal Ti.
  
  The torque efficiency increases four-fold by enhancing the spin-orbit coupling in Fe_1-xGd_x ferrimagnets.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Orbital torque, associated with orbital current, enables light metals to efficiently manipulate magnetization with rich tunability. A clear demonstration of perpendicular magnetization switching using light metals alone is essential for understanding orbital physics and developing high-density orbitronic devices. Here, we report orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization of ferrimagnet (Fe_1-xGd_x) using Ti 3d light metal alone. The torque efficiency increases four-fold by enhancing the spin-orbit coupling in Fe_1-xGd_x through modulating Gd composition, which is a characteristic feature of orbital torque. Our findings demonstrate that light metals in combination with rare earth-transition metal ferrimagnets can be employed for efficient orbitronic devices and serve as a model system for studying orbitronics.
- : Orbital current /
- orbital torque /
- perpendicular magnetization switching /
- orbital torque efficiency /
- ferrimagnet

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REFERENCES

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Xu T., Tang A., Wang K., et al. (2025). Orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in Ti/ferrimagnet bilayers. The Innovation Materials 3:100158. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2025.100158

Xu T., Tang A., Wang K., et al. (2025). Orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in Ti/ferrimagnet bilayers. The Innovation Materials 3:100158. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-mater.2025.100158

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Orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in Ti/ferrimagnet bilayers

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Orbital torque switching of perpendicular magnetization in Ti/ferrimagnet bilayers

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