Giant Hall Switching by Surface-State-Mediated Spin-Orbit Torque in a Hard Ferromagnetic Topological Insulator

Abstract

Topological insulators (TI) and magnetic topological insulators (MTI) can apply highly efficient spin-orbit torque (SOT) and manipulate the magnetization with their unique topological surface states (TSS) with ultrahigh efficiency. Here, efficient SOT switching of a hard MTI, V-doped (Bi,Sb)₂Te₃ (VBST), with a large coercive field that can prevent the influence of an external magnetic field, is demonstrated. A giant switched anomalous Hall resistance of 9.2 kΩ is realized, among the largest of all SOT systems, which makes the Hall channel a good readout and eliminates the need to fabricate complicated magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structures. The SOT switching current density can be reduced to 2.8 × 10⁵ A cm⁻², indicating its high efficiency. Moreover, as the Fermi level is moved away from the Dirac point by both gate and composition tuning, VBST exhibits a transition from edge-state-mediated to surface-state-mediated transport, thus enhancing the SOT effective field to (1.56 ± 0.12) × 10⁻⁶ T A⁻¹ cm² and the interfacial charge-to-spin conversion efficiency to 3.9 ± 0.3 nm⁻¹. The findings establish VBST as an extraordinary candidate for energy-efficient magnetic memory devices.