Tunable and enhanced Rashba spin-orbit coupling in iridate-manganite heterostructures

Abstract

Tailoring spin-orbit interactions and Coulomb repulsion are the key features to observe exotic physical phenomena such as magnetic anisotropy and topological spin texture at oxide interfaces. Our study proposes a platform for engineering magnetism and spin-orbit coupling at theÿLaMnO3/SrIrO3ÿ(3d?5d)ÿoxide interface by tuning theÿLaMnO3ÿgrowth conditions, which controls the lattice displacement and spin-correlated interfacial coupling through charge transfer. We report a tunable and enhanced interface-induced Rashba spin-orbit coupling where the spin relaxation mechanism varies with magnetic behavior of the underlyingÿLaMnO3ÿlayer. The x-ray spectroscopy measurements reveal the quantitative valence states of Mn and their impact on charge transfer. Our angle-dependent magnetoresistance measurements also reflects the signature of magnetic proximity effect inÿSrIrO3ÿand can be tuned with the magnetic nature ofÿLaMnO3ÿin aÿLaMnO3/SrIrO3ÿbilayer. Our work demonstrates a route to engineer the interface-induced Rashba spin-orbit coupling and magnetic proximity effect at theÿ3d?5dÿoxide interface for spintronics applications.