Electrical manipulation of spin-splitting antiferromagnet*

The recently discovered spin-splitting antiferromagnets (AFMs) inherit advantages of both ferromagnets and AFMs, which provide unprecedented opportunities for the long-desired non-volatile, high-density, and ultra-fast memories with opposite Néel vectors as binary "0" and "1". However, as crucial components, the electrical detection and electrical 180^o switching of the Néel vector as well as the corresponding spin-splitting, are very challenging and still missing. Here, we demonstrate that in spin-splitting AFM Mn₅Si₃, the unique anomalous Hall effect (AHE) can be adopted for electrical readout of opposite Néel vectors, which cannot be distinguished by conventional methods such as magnetoresistance in spin-degenerate AFMs. Moreover, we proposed a new mechanism for the electrical 180^o switching of the Néel vector via damping-like spin-orbit torques by designing asymmetric switching barriers and experimentally achieved it. Based on our novel readout and manipulation methods, we fabricated a prototype memory device that can accomplish robust write and read cycles. All of the experimental results are well supported by our first-principles calculations and atomic spin simulations. Our work lays the foundation for practical AFM spintronics and fundamental studies based on the AFM spin-splitting band structure.