Nonreciprocal Transport in Interfacial Rashba Ferromagnets

Interfacial systems displaying a Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) may be used to realize spin-charge interconversion with great efficiency (through the direct and inverse Edelstein effects), and as such be used as sources and detectors of spin currents¹. Because of their broken inversion symmetry, they also display nonreciprocal transport phenomena², such as unidirectional magnetoresistance. While the Rashba SOC is a universal feature of surfaces and heterointerfaces, transition metal oxides also often display unexpected magnetic properties at their surfaces and interfaces³. However, the interesting interplay that may arise between the Rashba-type SOI and surface or interfacial ferromagnetism, that would then qualify the system as a Rashba ferromagnet⁴, has been little investigated. In this talk, we will explore the possibility to endow Rashba systems with a magnetic order and explore the consequence of the interplay between these two phenomena. In particular, we will discuss how magnetism can strongly enhance the spin-charge interconversion efficiency⁵ and yield spontaneous non-reciprocal transport, in the absence of external magnetic field.
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