Magnetization switching by magnon-mediated spin torque through an antiferromagnetic insulator

Toward magnonic devices The field of magnonics aims to use spin waves (SWs) and their associated quasiparticles—magnons—as carriers of information. Compared with the movement of charge in conventional electronics, a major advantage of SWs is reduced Joule heating. However, SWs are trickier to direct and control. Two groups now go a step further toward magnon-based devices. Han et al. show that in multilayer films, domain walls can be used to change the phase and magnitude of a spin wave. Wang et al. demonstrate how magnon currents can be used to switch the magnetization of an adjacent layer. Science , this issue p. 1121 , p. 1125