Work-function control of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in Pt and Pd-based multilayers
Abstract
The emergence of chiral magnetic interactions at interfaces has strongly impacted our understanding of spin textures and magnetic order in low-dimensional systems. Originating from the interplay between spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and broken inversion symmetry, these interactions underpin the formation of skyrmions, chiral domain walls (DW), and other topologically non-trivial spin structures. In this article, we explore the fundamental mechanisms driving interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) through the investigation of its evolution in (Pt|Co|M)n and (Pd|Co|M)n multilayers with n=3–6 and various capping metals M (Ni, Ru, Pd, Al, Pt, and Au). The interfacial DMI constant Ds is extracted using an analytical model based on the equilibrium stripe-domain periodicity, the DW width parameter, and the internal DW angle. We find that Ds becomes almost constant, independent of n, indicating that the DMI amplitude is weakly affected by the number of repetitions (dipolar fields, quality of interfaces) in this regime. Most importantly, both the magnitude and sign of Ds exhibit a robust linear dependence on the work-function difference between Co and the capping metal, ΔΦ=ΦM−ΦCo, reflecting the interfacial potential gradient. The same slope is found for both Pt- and Pd-based multilayers despite their different SOC strengths, providing a simple and predictive route to engineer chiral interactions in metallic multilayer stacks.
Related
- Stability and Nonlinear Dynamics of Field-Driven Extended Domain Walls with Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction
- Enhancement of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in cobalt-based systems through interfacial engineering
- Exact quantum circuits for a Heisenberg triangle with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction
- Synergistic charging of a quantum battery via Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and non-Markovian noise
- Revisiting fermion bound states in baby Skyrme background with Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction
BibTeX
@article{ajejas2026workfunction,
title = {{Work-function control of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in Pt and Pd-based multilayers}},
author = {Fernando Ajejas and William Legrand and Inés García-Manuz and Johann Mertens and Sophie Collin and Florian Godel and Aymeric Vecchiola and Karim Bouzehouane and Vincent Cros and Nicolas Reyren},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1063/5.0343057},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05846303v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Work-function control of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in Pt and Pd-based multilayers
AU - Fernando Ajejas
AU - William Legrand
AU - Inés García-Manuz
AU - Johann Mertens
AU - Sophie Collin
AU - Florian Godel
AU - Aymeric Vecchiola
AU - Karim Bouzehouane
AU - Vincent Cros
AU - Nicolas Reyren
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Applied Physics Letters
DO - 10.1063/5.0343057
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05846303v1
AB - The emergence of chiral magnetic interactions at interfaces has strongly impacted our understanding of spin textures and magnetic order in low-dimensional systems. Originating from the interplay between spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and broken inversion symmetry, these interactions underpin the formation of skyrmions, chiral domain walls (DW), and other topologically non-trivial spin structures. In this article, we explore the fundamental mechanisms driving interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) through the investigation of its evolution in (Pt|Co|M)n and (Pd|Co|M)n multilayers with n=3–6 and various capping metals M (Ni, Ru, Pd, Al, Pt, and Au). The interfacial DMI constant Ds is extracted using an analytical model based on the equilibrium stripe-domain periodicity, the DW width parameter, and the internal DW angle. We find that Ds becomes almost constant, independent of n, indicating that the DMI amplitude is weakly affected by the number of repetitions (dipolar fields, quality of interfaces) in this regime. Most importantly, both the magnitude and sign of Ds exhibit a robust linear dependence on the work-function difference between Co and the capping metal, ΔΦ=ΦM−ΦCo, reflecting the interfacial potential gradient. The same slope is found for both Pt- and Pd-based multilayers despite their different SOC strengths, providing a simple and predictive route to engineer chiral interactions in metallic multilayer stacks.
SN - 0003-6951
SN - 1077-3118
ER -