Large interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions across Ag-layers.

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Spintronics

Background:

• Interlayer Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (IL-DMI) is crucial for spintronic devices.
• Enhancing IL-DMI strength is key for developing advanced chiral spin structures.
• Co/Ag/Co trilayers offer a potential platform for tunable chiral magnetic interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the strength and thickness dependence of IL-DMI in Co/Ag/Co trilayers.
• To explore the role of atomic and Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in enhancing IL-DMI.
• To determine if Co/Ag/Co trilayers can promote in-plane chirality.

Main Methods:

• Utilized surface-sensitive magneto-optical measurements leveraging light penetration depth.
• Studied the thickness evolution of effective interlayer coupling in Co/Ag/Co trilayers.
• Analyzed the resulting chiral interactions between ferromagnetic layers.

Main Results:

• Observed oscillatory and thickness-dependent chiral interaction in Co/Ag/Co trilayers.
• Achieved IL-DMI magnitudes significantly larger than many heavy metal systems, reaching ≈ ±0.2 mJ/m².
• Demonstrated that Co/Ag/Co trilayers promote in-plane chirality, unlike many known multilayers.

Conclusions:

• Co/Ag/Co trilayers exhibit strong IL-DMI, even with weak Ag atomic SOC.
• The observed in-plane chirality in Co/Ag/Co offers new pathways for designing 3D chiral spin structures.
• This research provides a foundation for enhancing DMI strength in spintronic applications.