Magnetic properties and materials articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological semimetals offer the potential for new-generation spintronic devices. Here, the authors demonstrate a large out-of-plane damping-like spin–orbit torque efficiency in a heterostructure based on the Weyl semimetal TaIrTe4.

    • Lakhan Bainsla
    • , Bing Zhao
    •  & Saroj P. Dash
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors observe THz emission from Ni/Pt heterostructure due to long-range ballistic orbital transport. The velocity of orbital current can be optically tuned by laser fluence, opening the avenue for future optorbitronic devices.

    • Sobhan Subhra Mishra
    • , James Lourembam
    •  & Ranjan Singh
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) is the name assigned to the large and non-saturating magnetoresistance that occurs in some metals and semi-metals. In this work, the authors demonstrate the first material, PtSn4, in which XMR can be switched off by changing the direction of the magnetic field.

    • J. Diaz
    • , K. Wang
    •  & P. J. W. Moll
  • Article
    | Open Access

    There are now several van der Waals magnets that have been shown to host skyrmions, however, these are typically hampered by a low Curie temperature, restricting the temperature at which the skyrmions can exist. Here, Zhang, Jiang, Jiang and coauthors find a skyrmion lattice in the van der Waals magnet Fe3 − xGaTe2 above room temperature and demonstrate the critical role of symmetry breaking in crystal lattice in the origin of these skyrmions.

    • Chenhui Zhang
    • , Ze Jiang
    •  & Hyunsoo Yang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Toggle switching refers to the switching of magnetization induced by a train of ultrashort laser pulses. The high speed make such switching in extremely promising for devices, however, the underlying toggle switching mechanism in metals is due to heating, and thus has a downside of dissipation. Here, Zalewski et al demonstrate ultrafast ‘cold’ toggle switching, with a mechanism that does not rely on heating in dielectric Cobalt doped Yittrium Iron Garnet.

    • T. Zalewski
    • , A. Maziewski
    •  & A. Stupakiewicz
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Néel spin-orbit torques arise due to charge currents in some antiferromagnets, and have sparked interest as a possible pathway for achieving electrical control of antiferromagnetic order. While the driving of antiferromagnetic order by Néel spin-orbit torques is now experimentally well established, the inverse process, where magnetic excitations in an antiferromagnetic drive a charge current is not reported. Here Huang, Liao, Qiu, and coauthors observe this inverse process in an Mn2Au thin film.

    • Lin Huang
    • , Liyang Liao
    •  & Cheng Song
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Helimagnetic materials host a twisted magnetic texture, realizing screws, cycloids, and cones. While helimagnets are common in three dimensional materials, layered van der Waals helimagnets are exceedingly rare. Here, Akatsuka et al. demonstrate conical ordering in the easily cleavable magnet DyTe3.

    • Shun Akatsuka
    • , Sebastian Esser
    •  & Max Hirschberger
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors observe multiferroicity in a single-layer non van der Waals material, CuCrSe2. The coexistence of room-temperature ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism up to 120 K is corroborated by a set of comprehensive experimental techniques.

    • Zhenyu Sun
    • , Yueqi Su
    •  & Baojie Feng
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antiferromagnetic spintronics offer high speed operations, and reduced issues with stray fields compared to ferromagnetic systems, however, antiferromagnets are typically more challenging to manipulate electrically. Here, Yang, Kim, and coauthors demonstrate electrical control of magnon dispersion and frequency in an α-Fe2O3/Pt heterostructure.

    • Dongsheng Yang
    • , Taeheon Kim
    •  & Hyunsoo Yang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The coupling between topological electronic properties and magnetic order offers a promising route for magnetoelectric control with great potential for both applications and fundamental physics. Here, Susilo et al demonstrate the rich tunability of magnetic properties in nodal-line magnetic semiconductor Mn3Si2Te6 using pressure as control knob.

    • Resta A. Susilo
    • , Chang Il Kwon
    •  & Jun Sung Kim
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here Pantazopoulos, Feist, García-Vidal, and Kamra explore the combination spin, phonon and photon coupling in a system of magnetic nanoparticles, and find that it leads to an emergent spin-spin interaction. This interaction is long-range and leads to an unconventional form of magnetism that can exhibit strong magnetization at temperatures very close to the critical temperature.

    • Petros Andreas Pantazopoulos
    • , Johannes Feist
    •  & Akashdeep Kamra
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stabilizing non-trivial magnetic spin textures at room temperature remains challenging. Here, the authors propose introducing magnetic atoms into the van der Waals gap of 2D magnets Fe3GaTe2 to stabilize the magnetic spin textures beyond skyrmion.

    • Hongrui Zhang
    • , Yu-Tsun Shao
    •  & Ramamoorthy Ramesh
  • Article
    | Open Access

    In most materials, the hall conductivity has a scaling to the longitudinal resistance that varies between linear and quadratic. Here, Zhang et al demonstrate a hall conductivity proportional to the fifth power of the longitudinal conductivity in Mn3Si2Te6, which they attribute to enhanced force on charge carriers due to chiral orbital currents.

    • Yu Zhang
    • , Yifei Ni
    •  & Gang Cao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many of the most industrially important magnets require the addition of rare-earths to improve their coercivity and magnetic performance. Here, the authors place a single paramagnetic rare-earth ion, Er3+, in a diamagnetic nanoparticle, and study the slow relaxation of the resulting nanoparticles, providing vital information for the further development of rare-earth magnetic materials.

    • Diogo A. Gálico
    • , Emille M. Rodrigues
    •  & Muralee Murugesu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum annealing is usually discussed as a means of finding an optimal solution for a problem where there are many local minima, such as the travelling salesman. Here, Zhao et al present an intriguing example of quantum annealing in the case of the frustrated magnet α-CoV2O6, where a transverse magnetic field triggers the quantum annealing process.

    • Yuqian Zhao
    • , Zhaohua Ma
    •  & Yuesheng Li
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently, excitons with unconventional properties were reported in a van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS3. Here, using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, the authors show that the formation of these excitons is primarily driven by Hund’s coupling and that they propagate similarly to two-magnon excitations.

    • W. He
    • , Y. Shen
    •  & M. P. M. Dean
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase diagrams of materials are typically based on a static order parameter, but it faces challenges when distinguishing subtle phase changes, such as re-ordering. Here the authors introduce a dynamic re-order parameter, in particular magnons, and illustrate it in a material with complex magnetic phases.

    • Byung Cheol Park
    • , Howon Lee
    •  & Taewoo Ha
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The techniques we typically employ to study spin-waves in magnetic materials, such as Brillouin Light Scattering, are two-dimensional. Spin waves, however, are manifestly three-dimensional. Here, Girardi et al. succeed in such three-dimensional imaging of spin waves in a synthetic antiferromagnet using Time-Resolved Soft X-ray Laminography.

    • Davide Girardi
    • , Simone Finizio
    •  & Edoardo Albisetti
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors demonstrate a broadband nonlinear optical diode effect and its electric control in the magnetic Weyl semimetal CeAlSi. Their findings advance ongoing research to identify novel optical phenomena in topological materials.

    • Christian Tzschaschel
    • , Jian-Xiang Qiu
    •  & Su-Yang Xu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Several recent experimental studies have found disconnected Fermi surface arcs emerging below the Neel temperature in several rare-earth mono-pnictides. While these electronic states have been attributed to a non-collinear antiferromagnetic order, experimental evidence of this has been lacking. Here Huang et al demonstrate the emergence of non-collinear antiferromagnetic order using spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy.

    • Zengle Huang
    • , Hemian Yi
    •  & Weida Wu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exchange bias occurs in a variety of magnetic materials and heterostructures. The quintessential example occurs in antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic heterostructures and has been employed extensively in magnetic memory devices. Here, via a specific field training protocol, the authors demonstrate an exchange bias of up to 400mT in odd layered MnBi2Te4.

    • Su Kong Chong
    • , Yang Cheng
    •  & Kang L. Wang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently superconductivity with Tc of about 80 K was discovered in a bilayer nickelate La3Ni2O7 under high pressure. Here the authors report a density functional theory and random phase approximation study of structural and electronic properties as a function of pressure and discuss the pairing mechanism.

    • Yang Zhang
    • , Ling-Fang Lin
    •  & Elbio Dagotto
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic type-II Weyl semimetals host a variety of intriguing physical phenomena due to the combination of magnetic ordering and the electronic properties of the Weyl nodes. Herein, the authors explore the ultrafast spin dynamics of the magnetic Weyl semimetal, Co3Sn2S2, observing a transient enhanced magnetization as a result of laser excitation.

    • Xianyang Lu
    • , Zhiyong Lin
    •  & Yongbing Xu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently, signatures of quantum spin liquid have been reported in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. Here the authors report evidence of such state in 1T-NbSe2 via the measurements of the Kondo effect in a 1T-1H heterostructure, further supported by measurements for magnetic molecules on 1T-NbSe2.

    • Quanzhen Zhang
    • , Wen-Yu He
    •  & Yeliang Wang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gapped quantum antiferromagnets can undergo field or pressure induced phase transitions to the magnetically ordered state, which have distinct critical exponents. While there are many examples of field induced transitions, thus far the pressure induced case has proven difficult to realize. Herein, the authors demonstrate such a pressure driven phase transition in the quantum antiferromagnet, DTN.

    • Kirill Yu. Povarov
    • , David E. Graf
    •  & Sergei A. Zvyagin
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of higher frequency transformers and inductors requires soft magnetic materials with stable permeability up to GHz frequencies, however, such soft magnetic materials are current lacking. Here Bai et al demonstrate a soft magnetic composite featuring isolated magnetic vortices, which endow the material with a stable permeability over a GHz range of frequency.

    • Guohua Bai
    • , Jiayi Sun
    •  & Xuefeng Zhang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently there has been a surge of interest in using magnons, the quasi-particles of spin-waves in magnetic systems, for information processing, driven by the potentially very low energy consumption. Here, by adjusting the magnetic compensation in a ferrimagnet, Li et al demonstrate magnon–magnon coupling, and controllable spin wave mediated spin current transmission.

    • Yan Li
    • , Zhitao Zhang
    •  & Xixiang Zhang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The spin texture of a magnetic system can host a variety of topological spin textures, the most famous of these being skyrmions. Here, Volkov et al demonstrate higher order vorticity in magnetic wireframe nanostructures and introduce a general protocol for the creation of arbitrary numbers of vortices and antivortices in such wireframe structures.

    • Oleksii M. Volkov
    • , Oleksandr V. Pylypovskyi
    •  & Denys Makarov
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Several recent works have highlighted the importance of the orbital currents in transferring angular momentum within materials. In combination with spin-orbit coupling, such orbital currents can be used to alter the magnetization of a material. Herein, the authors demonstrate the inverse effect, showing orbital current driven terahertz emission in Nickel based heterostructures.

    • Yong Xu
    • , Fan Zhang
    •  & Weisheng Zhao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    FeGe is a Kagome metal that exhibits a very rich array of magnetic and electronic phases. Here, using neutron scattering, Chen et al add to this zoo, by showing the emergence of a spin density wave order.

    • Lebing Chen
    • , Xiaokun Teng
    •  & Pengcheng Dai
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic random access memory current uses spin transfer torque for switching, which limits the speed of switching operation, and the number of times the device can be switched before failure. Here, Yang et al. demonstrate field free switching using spin-orbit torque offering a pathway to overcome these limitations.

    • Qu Yang
    • , Donghyeon Han
    •  & Hyunsoo Yang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    An altermagnet has highly anisotropic spin splitting but zero net magnetization. Here, S.-B. Zhang et al. theoretically study the behavior of s-wave superconductor/altermagnet hybrid structures, finding that Cooper pairs in the proximitized altermagnet have an anisotropic non-zero momentum.

    • Song-Bo Zhang
    • , Lun-Hui Hu
    •  & Titus Neupert
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The combination of strong light-matter interactions and controllable magnetic properties make magnetic semiconductors attractive for both fundamental physics and the development of devices. Here, Hendriks et al show how the optically driven magnetization dynamics in Cr2Ge2Te6 can be controlled via electrostatic gating.

    • Freddie Hendriks
    • , Rafael R. Rojas-Lopez
    •  & Marcos H. D. Guimarães
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors propose an isotropic three-dimensional metamaterial with nonreciprocal magnetoelectric resonant responses at visible and mid-infrared frequencies. The proposed metamaterials do not require external magnetization.

    • Shadi Safaei Jazi
    • , Ihar Faniayeu
    •  & Viktar Asadchy
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Charge-to-spin conversion allows for the generation and control of spin polarization via a charge current. Typically, this is done with non-magnetic materials with large spin-orbit interactions such as Platinum. Herein, Dai et al demonstrate an intriguing charge-to-spin mechanism, a magnetic spin Hall effect, in a van der Waals heterostructure.

    • Yudi Dai
    • , Junlin Xiong
    •  & Feng Miao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Artificial spin ices are nanomagnetic metamaterials, whose collective magnetization self-organizes into extended domains. However, controlling when, where and how domains change has proven difficult, yet is crucial for technological applications. Here, Jensen and Strømberg et al. introduce astroid clocking, which enables controlled, stepwise growth and reversal of magnetic domains, using only global fields.

    • Johannes H. Jensen
    • , Anders Strømberg
    •  & Erik Folven
  • Article
    | Open Access

    2D bilayers have recently attracted significant attention due to fundamental properties like interlayer excitons and interfacial ferroelectricity. Here, the authors report a density functional theory approach to identify 2586 stable homobilayer systems and calculate their stacking-dependent electronic, magnetic and vibrational properties.

    • Sahar Pakdel
    • , Asbjørn Rasmussen
    •  & Kristian S. Thygesen
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent work has demonstrated the potential of polycrystalIine antiferromagnetic materials for spintronics. Here the authors report evidence of magnetic phase transitions in a polycrystalline non-collinear antiferromagnet, which are explained by a phenomenological model with topological orbital momenta.

    • Sihao Deng
    • , Olena Gomonay
    •  & Christoph Sürgers
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrical control of topological magnets is of great interest for future spintronic applications. Here, the authors demonstrate the effective manipulation of antiferromagnetic order in a Weyl semimetal using orbital torques, with implications for neuromorphic device applications.

    • Zhenyi Zheng
    • , Tao Zeng
    •  & Jingsheng Chen