Epitaxial Films

Recently manipulation of antiferromagnetic (AFM) order has been gaining the attention of the spintronics community. Magnetic switching has been reported in AFM thin films based on electronic transport methods, which provide only spatially averaged information on AFM states. Other techniques, such as x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD), can provide local information on AFM domains. In this study, we report direct observation of spin reorientation in response to current pulses in (0001) α-Fe₂O₃/Pt heterostructures. Our experiment combines the application of current pulses and spatially resolved photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) with X-ray magnetic linear dichroism to detect antiferromagnetic contrast. Pulses were applied in two different configurations, and XMLD images were interleaved with current pulse sequences to reveal changes in the AFM domains. Our polarization dependent analysis reveals that Neel vector of our α-Fe₂O₃ films have an out-of-plane component in their equilibrium state, contrary to what previous work indicate. Finally, we show clear evidence of AFM domains reorientation outside of the current path, which leads us to the conclusion that spin-orbit torque may not be the only driven effect in the electrical switching process.