Manipulating effective spin orbit coupling based on proximity effect in magnetic bilayers

Y. Q. Zhang,1 N. Y. Sun,1 W. R. Che,1 X. L. Li,2 J. W. Zhang,1 R. Shan,1,a) Z. G. Zhu,3,4,b) and G. Su3,4,c

1 School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

2 Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), Shanghai 201204, China

3 School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

4 Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics and Computational Materials Physics Laboratory, College of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China (Received 29 May 2015; accepted 14 August 2015; published online 25 August 2015)

A proximity effect of spin orbit coupling (SOC) is proposed in nonmagnetic metal/ferromagnet (NM/FM) bilayers by extending the Crepieux-Bruno (CB) theory. We demonstrate that over 1000% enhancement of the SOC strength can be realized based on this effect (Pt/FM bilayers) and it brings greatly enhanced anomalous Hall effect and anomalous Nernst effect. This work could help maximize the performance of magnetic transport property for the spintronics device using NM/FM as the key structure.