Electric field control of Néel spin-orbit torque in an antiferromagnet

Electric field control of spin–orbit torque in ferromagnets1 has been intensively pursued in spintronics to achieve efficient memory and computing devices with ultralow energy consumption. Compared with ferromagnets, antiferromagnets2,3 have huge potential in high-density information storage because of their ultrafast spin dynamics and vanishingly small stray field4–7. However, the manipulation of spin–orbit torque in antiferromagnets using electric fields remains elusive. Here we use ferroelastic strain from piezoelectric materials to switch the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in antiferromagnetic Mn2Au films with an electric field of only a few kilovolts per centimetre at room temperature. Owing to the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, we observe an asymmetric Neel spin–orbit torque8,9 in the Mn2Au, which is used to demonstrate an antiferromagnetic ratchet. The asymmetry of the Neel spin–orbit torque and the corresponding antiferromagnetic ratchet can be reversed by the electric field. Our finding sheds light on antiferromagnet-based memories with ultrahigh density and high energy efficiency. A ferroelectric material is used to switch the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of an antiferromagnet, with implications for antiferromagnetic spintronics.