Spin Hall Effect Mediated Current-Induced Deterministic Switching In All-Metallic Perpendicularly Magnetized Pt/Co/Pt Trilayers

A magnetic field free current-induced deterministic switching is demonstrated in a perpendicularly magnetized all-metallic Pt/Co/Pt thin film system with a small tilt in anisotropy axis. We realized this in devices where the ultrathin Co layer was grown using an oblique angle sputter deposition technique that had resulted in a small tilt of magnetic anisotropy from the film normal. By performing out-of-plane magnetization hysteresis measurements under bias magnetic field applied along various in-plane directions the tilt angle was estimated to be around 3. 3∘(±0. 3∘). A deterministic current-induced magnetization switching could be achieved when the in-plane current was applied perpendicular to the anisotropy tilt axis, but the switching was stochastic when the current was applied in the direction of the tilt (in the tilt plane). By preparing Pt/Co/Pt stacks with unequal top and bottom Pt thickness, sufficient spin-orbit torque