Picosecond all-electrical perpendicular magnetization switching

Yu He; Chen Xiao; Kelian Lin; Kun Zhang; Boyu Zhang; Zhenyi Zheng; Yue Zhang; Wenlong Cai; Zuojun Song; Dinghao Ma; Xueqiang Feng; Lei Chen; Bo Li; Guo Liu; Shidong Li; Xiangyu Zheng; Zhizhong Zhang; Jingsheng Chen; Weisheng Zhao

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72582-7

Picosecond all-electrical perpendicular magnetization switching

Nat Commun. 2026 Apr 29. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-72582-7. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yu He^#¹, Chen Xiao^#^{1

2}, Kelian Lin^#^{1

2}, Kun Zhang^#^{1

3}, Boyu Zhang^#¹, Zhenyi Zheng^#^{1

4}, Yue Zhang^{5

6

7

8}, Wenlong Cai¹, Zuojun Song¹, Dinghao Ma¹, Xueqiang Feng^{1

2}, Lei Chen^{1

2}, Bo Li¹, Guo Liu¹, Shidong Li¹, Xiangyu Zheng¹, Zhizhong Zhang^{1

2}, Jingsheng Chen⁴, Weisheng Zhao^{9

10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Fert Beijing Research Institute, MIIT Key Laboratory of Spintronics, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, P. R. China.
² National Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, P. R. China.
³ Integrated Circuit and Intelligent Instruments Innovation Center, Qingdao Research Institute, Beihang University, Qingdao, P. R. China.
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
⁵ Fert Beijing Research Institute, MIIT Key Laboratory of Spintronics, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, P. R. China. yz@buaa.edu.cn.
⁶ National Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, P. R. China. yz@buaa.edu.cn.
⁷ Integrated Circuit and Intelligent Instruments Innovation Center, Qingdao Research Institute, Beihang University, Qingdao, P. R. China. yz@buaa.edu.cn.
⁸ Nanoelectronics Science and Technology Center, Hefei Innovation Research Institute, Beihang University, Hefei, P.R. China. yz@buaa.edu.cn.
⁹ Fert Beijing Research Institute, MIIT Key Laboratory of Spintronics, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, P. R. China. weisheng.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁰ National Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, P. R. China. weisheng.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.
¹¹ Integrated Circuit and Intelligent Instruments Innovation Center, Qingdao Research Institute, Beihang University, Qingdao, P. R. China. weisheng.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.
¹² Nanoelectronics Science and Technology Center, Hefei Innovation Research Institute, Beihang University, Hefei, P.R. China. weisheng.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 42056122
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-72582-7

Abstract

Current-induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) is an effective approach to manipulate magnetic states in spintronic devices. Recent studies show picosecond electrical pulses can induce coherent magnetization switching, reducing switching time from nanosecond scale to picosecond scale. However, it remains unclear whether such ultrafast switching can be achieved in a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy system without an external magnetic field. Here, we demonstrate picosecond all-electrical magnetization switching in a CoTb/Ti/CoFeB/MgO heterostructure, where the in-plane magnetized CoTb layer acts as the SOT source, generating simultaneously in-plane spin current σ_y and out-of-plane spin current σ_z. The strong spin-orbit coupling in Tb significantly enhances the SOT efficiency, enabling 16 ps switching with projected 41 fJ/bit consumption in a 100×100 nm² device. Micromagnetic simulations and numerical analysis reveal trade-off between pulse width and energy consumption and identify an optimal σ_z/σ_y ratio for energy-efficient switching. Our work promotes the frequency of spintronic devices toward THz regime.

Abstract

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