Tunable unconventional spin orbit torque magnetization dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures
- Lalit Pandey
- Bing Zhao
- Karma Tenzin
- Roselle Ngaloy
- Veronika Lamparská
- Himanshu Bangar
- Aya Ali
- Mahmoud Abdel-Hafiez
- Gaojie Zhang
- Hao Wu
- Haixin Chang
- Lars Sjöström
- Prasanna Rout
- Jagoda Sławińska
- Saroj P. Dash
2025-09-30
Two-dimensional quantum material heterostructures can offer a promising platform for energy-efficient non-volatile spin-based technologies. However, spin dynamics experiments to understand the basic spin-orbit torque phenomena are so far lacking. Here, we demonstrate unconventional out-of-plane magnetization dynamics, and energy-efficient and field-free spin-orbit torque switching in a van der Waals heterostructure comprising out-of-plane magnet Fe 3 GaTe 2 and topological Weyl semimetal TaIrTe 4 . We measured non-linear second harmonic Hall signal in TaIrTe 4 /Fe 3 GaTe 2 devices to evaluate the magnetization dynamics, which is characterized by large and tunable out-of-plane damping-like torque. Energy-efficient and deterministic field-free SOT magnetization switching is achieved at room temperature with a very low current density. First-principles calculations unveil the origin of the unconventional charge-spin conversion phenomena, considering the crystal symmetry and electronic structure of TaIrTe 4 . These results establish that van der Waals heterostructures provide a promising route to energy-efficient, field-free, and tunable spintronic devices.