Unidirectional Spin Hall Magnetoresistance in Antiferromagnetic Heterostructures

Abstract: Unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR) has been widely reported in the heavy metal / ferromagnet (HM/FM) bilayer systems. We observe the USMR in the Pt/{\alpha}-Fe2O3 bilayers where the {\alpha}-Fe2O3 is an antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator. Systematic field and temperature dependent measurements confirm the magnonic origin of the USMR. The appearance of AFM-USMR is driven by the imbalance of creation and annihilation of AFM magnons by spin orbit torque due to thermal random field. However, unlike its ferromagnetic counterpart, theoretical modeling reveals that the USMR in Pt/{\alpha}-Fe2O3 is determined by the antiferromagtic magnon number, and with a non-monotonic field dependence. Our findings extend the generality of the USMR which pave the ways for the highly sensitive detection of AF spin state.