Negligible current-induced torque from the bulk and interface of Al
Abstract
The light metal Al was predicted to have strong orbital Hall and Rashba effects from its bulk and interface, respectively. In this letter, we report experimental evidence that neither the bulk nor the interface of the Al contributed a detectable torque on adjacent Co and FePt layers with significant spin Hall effect, spin-orbit coupling, and resistivity mismatch with Al. These results suggest minimal orbital-spin conversion in Al and negligible orbital transport and spin-vorticity torque in Co/Al, Al/Co, and Al/FePt bilayers. Our findings suggest poor generality and/or effectiveness of torque contributions by the orbital Hall effect, the interfacial orbital Rashba effect, and the spin-vorticity coupling.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Electromagnetic Effects on Materials
Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
Microstructure and mechanical properties
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical review. B./Physical review. B
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 2
- Publication date
- 9 July 2026
- Language
- EN