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ICMAB Research

Interlayer chiral coupling between an insulating ferrimagnet and a conducting ferromagnet with orthogonal magnetizations
30 September 2026

A new paper has been published in Physical Review Applied

We study interlayer magnetic interactions between a ferrimagnetic insulator with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy  Tb3Fe5O12 (TbIG) and an in-plane magnetized ferromagnetic conductor CoFeB. We identify a chiral interlayer coupling, enabled by symmetry breaking associated with a uniaxial in-plane anisotropy in the CoFeB layer. This coupling gives rise to a chiral exchange bias effect on both layers, tunable via their relative vector magnetization orientation. Temperature-controlled and current-induced Joule heating experiments demonstrate relaxation from a chiral-coupling unfavorable to a favored configuration, allowing external field-free and deterministic perpendicular magnetization reversal. These findings highlight insulating ferrimagnetic garnet/ferromagnet bilayers as a promising platform for chiral spintronic functionalities in memory and logic devices.

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Interlayer chiral coupling between an insulating ferrimagnet and a conducting ferromagnet with orthogonal magnetizations


Janus, Weronika; Shiino, Takayuki; Avci, Can Onur

Phys. Rev. Applied 26, L021001
DOI: 10.1103/1qpk-mvrk