UC Berkeley

Spin-orbit torque is not only a useful probe to study manipulation of magnetic textures and magnetic states at the nanoscale but also it carries great potential for next-generation computing applications. Here we report the observation of rich spin-orbit torque switching phenomena such as field-free switching, multistate switching, memristor behavior and ratchet effect in a single shot, co-sputtered, rare earth-transition metal Gd_xCo_100-x. Notably such effects have only been observed in antiferromagnet/ferromagnet bi-layer systems previously. We show that these effects can be traced to a large anistropic canting, that can be engineered into the Gd_xCo_100-x system. Further, we show that the magnitude of these switching phenomena can be tuned by the canting angle and the in-plane external field. The complex spin-orbit torque switching observed in canted Gd_xCo_100-x not only provides a platform for spintronics but also serves as a model system to study the underlying physics of complex magnetic textures and interactions.