Designer spin interfaces through electric field control

Switching a magnet is the underlying process which allows the storage of data on hard disc drives. A large body of research aims to improve on current data storage devices by creating small, fast, dense magnetic memories. Two recent effects discovered in thin film magnetic heterostructures provide a promising path towards this: the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and spin-orbit torques. These mechanisms allow fast magnetic domain wall motion and the creation of topologically protected magnetic excitations called skyrmions. This project aims to understand the underlying physics of these effects, through electric field controlled manipulation of the interfaces of a magnetic layer. By learning how to control these interfaces, new commercially-relevant devices based on electric-field controlled magnetism will become possible.