Enhanced Spin–Orbit Torque Efficiency in Platinum–Gadolinium Oxide Nanocomposite Films

Spin–orbit torque (SOT) has emerged as an effective means of manipulating magnetization. However, the current energy efficiency of SOT operation is inefficient due to low damping-like SOT efficiency per unit current bias. In this work, we dope conventional rare earth oxides, GdOy, into highly conductive platinum by magnetron sputtering to form a new group of spin Hall materials. A large damping-like spin–orbit torque (DL-SOT) efficiency of about 0.35 ± 0.013 is obtained in Pt0.70(GdOy)0.30 measured by the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) technique, which is about five times that of pure Pt under the same conditions. The substantial enhancement of the spin Hall effect is revealed by theoretical analysis to be attributed to the strong side jump induced by the rare earth oxide GdOy impurities. Moreover, this large DL-SOT efficiency contributes to a low critical switching current density (8.0 × 106 A·cm–2 in the Pt0.70(GdOy)0.30 layer) in current-induced magnetization switching measurements. This systematic study on SOT switching properties suggests that Pt1–x(GdOy)x is an attractive spin current source with large DL-SOT efficiency for future SOT applications and provides another idea to regulate the spin Hall angle.