Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 60: Spintronics (other effects) (joint session MA/TT)

TT 60.9: Talk

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 17:30–17:45, POT/0112

Intrinsic and Proximity-Enhanced Spin-Orbit Torques in Fe₃(Ge,Ga)Te₂ and WTe₂ Heterostructures — •Gusthavo Brizolla¹, Stepan Tsirkin², Yaroslav Zhumagulov², and Jaroslav Fabian¹ — ¹Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany — ²EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

Spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in 2D magnets and their heterostructures offer a route to ultra-thin, energy-efficient memories where currents can switch magnetization without external magnetic fields. Materials such as Fe₃GeTe₂ (FGT) and Fe₃GaTe₂ (FGaT), and their interfaces with low-symmetry WTe₂, are especially promising, but the angular dependence and microscopic origin of their SOTs are still not fully understood. Here we compute SOTs in FGT, FGaT and WTe₂-proximitized heterostructures using first-principles (DFT) calculations and compare two protocols for mapping the angular dependence: self-consistent magnetization rotation and rigid rotation of a fixed exchange field. They agree when spin-orbit mixing is weak, but differ strongly near in-plane alignment, where interband hot spots and evolving spin-orbit hybridization amplify the torkances. In WTe₂ heterostructures, broken symmetry and Te-Te interfacial hybridization further boost torques with out-of-plane spin polarization. These results provide design rules for field-free current control in 2D magnets and show that the angle dependence of spin-orbit coupling must be treated explicitly to obtain reliable SOT angular maps.

Keywords: Spin–orbit torques; 2D van der Waals magnets; proximity effects