Synthetic antiferromagnets (SAF) have been proposed to replace ferromagnets in magnetic memory devices to reduce the stray field, increase the storage density, and improve the thermal stability. Here, we investigate the spin-orbit torque in a perpendicularly magnetized Pt/[Co/Pd]/Ru/[Co/Pd] SAF structure, which exhibits completely compensated magnetization and an exchange coupling field up to 2100 Oe. The magnetizations of two Co/Pd layers can be switched between two antiparallel states simultaneously by spin-orbit torque. The magnetization switching can be read out due to much stronger spin-orbit coupling at the bottom Pt/[Co/Pd] interface compared to its upper counterpart without Pt. Both experimental and theoretical analyses unravel that the torque efficiency of antiferromagnetically coupled stacks is significantly higher than the ferromagnetic counterpart, making the critical switching current of SAF comparable to the conventional single ferromagnet. Besides adding an important dimension to spin-orbit torque, the efficient switching of completely compensated SAF might advance magnetic memory devices with high density, high speed, and low power consumption.

• Received 12 December 2017
• Revised 5 May 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.97.214403