Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction across an Antiferromagnet-Ferromagnet Interface

The antiferromagnet- (AFM-)ferromagnet (FM) interfaces are of central importance in recently developed pure electric or ultrafast control of FM spins, where the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. Here we report the direct observation of an Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) across the AFM-FM interface of IrMn/CoFeB thin films. The interfacial DMI is quantitatively measured from the asymmetric spin-wave dispersion in the FM layer using Brillouin light scattering. The DMI strength is enhanced by a factor of 7 with increasing IrMn layer thickness in the range of 1-7.5 nm. Our findings provide deeper insight into the coupling at the AFM-FM interface and may stimulate new device concepts utilizing chiral spin textures such as magnetic Skyrmions in AFM-FM heterostructures.