Evidence of Orbital Hall current revealed in second harmonic response of longitudinal and transverse voltage in light metal-ferromagnet bilayers

We present experimental evidence of orbital Hall torque and unidirectional magnetoresistance (UMR), arising from the orbital Hall effect generated by the transverse flow of orbital angular momentum in light metals under an applied electric current. Through second-harmonic measurements, we investigate orbital Hall torque and UMR in bilayer devices composed of ferromagnetic materials (FM), such as Ni and NiFe, paired with light metals (LM), such as Ti and Nb. Our results demonstrate that LM/Ni bilayers exhibit enhanced damping-like torque and unidirectional magnetoresistance (UMR) compared to LM/NiFe bilayers. This enhancement suggests that angular momentum is generated via the orbital Hall effect within the light metal, where it undergoes orbital-to-spin conversion within the Ni ferromagnet, ultimately transferring to the magnetization of the ferromagnetic layer. Torque and UMR are also absent in single-layer devices, highlighting the necessity of the bilayer structure for orbital current generation.