Atomic-scale Origin of Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii--Moriya Interaction in Pt/Fe/Au

Abstract

Recent results show remarkable interfacial--Dzyaloshinskii--Moriya interaction (i-DMI) in magnetic heterostructures composed of relatively thick Fe thin films ($\gg 1$ nm). To investigate its origin, we present a thorough magnetic characterization of the SiO$_2$/${}^{57}\mathrm{Fe}$($t$)/Au and SiO$_2$/Pt/${}^{57}\mathrm{Fe}$($t$)/Au heterostructures ($t = 1.6$ - $2.2$ nm). An i-DMI constant of $D_s^{\mathrm{Pt}} = 0.43\,\mathrm{mJ\,m^{-2}}$ is extracted for the Pt/Fe/Au system, as probed by wavevector-resolved Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. Ferromagnetic resonance and conversion electron M\"ossbauer spectroscopy indicate that significant surface anisotropy is present in Pt/Fe/Au, and that an interfacial Fe fraction ($\sim18$) exhibits tilted magnetization ($\sim25^\circ$ out of plane) and an enhanced hyperfine field, correlating with the stronger i-DMI.