Abstract
Spin current provides an energy-efficient approach for manipulating magnetization, when its spin polarization aligns with the magnetization direction. However, conventional spin-source materials possess high crystalline symmetry, restricting spin polarization to be orthogonal to both spin and charge current directions. Here, we overcome this limitation by utilizing the concept of magnon-mediated spin-orbit torque through integration of the insulating multiferroic BiFeO3 with a conventional spin-source material. We observe that spin polarization generated by conventional spin-source material can excite unconventional magnon polarization due to the interplay between cycloidal antiferromagnetic order and the ferroelectric domain structure in BiFeO3. This produces an unconventional magnon torque that allows deterministic, field‑free switching of in‑plane magnetization collinear with the current direction, unattainable with conventional spin-source materials. Our results establish multiferroic-based heterostructure as a symmetry‑engineered magnon spin source, paving the way for low-power spintronic devices.
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All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper. The data that support the findings of this study are also available in Zenodo with the identifier https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18623111.
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Acknowledgements
T.N. acknowledges the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant number 2024YFB3614100. D.Y. acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant number 52250418. D.C.R. gratefully acknowledges the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award number DE-SC0017671 for measurements at Cornell. The research used the facilities of the Cornell Center for Materials Research.
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T.N., D.C.R., and D.Y. conceived and supervised the experiments. X.Y., X.J., X.Q., H.B., and W.J. performed the sample growth. Y.L. and D.J. performed the device fabrication. Y.L., H.C., D.P., X.H., and R.J. performed device measurements and analysis. Z.W. and D.S. conducted a macro-spin simulation. T.N., D.C.R., D.Y., and Y.L. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. T.N., D.C.R., and D.Y. directed the research.
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Liang, Y., Yan, X., Jiang, X. et al. Unconventional magnon-mediated spin torque enabled by ferroelectric domain engineering in multiferroic BiFeO3. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71437-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71437-5
