Antiferromagnetic Metal Spintronics

Spintronics in ferromagnetic metals is built on a complementary set of phenomena in which magnetic configurations influence transport coefficients and transport currents alter magnetic configurations. In this Letter we propose that corresponding effects occur in circuits containing antiferromagnetic metals. The critical current for switching can be smaller in the antiferromagnetic case because of the absence of shape anisotropy and because spin torques act through the entire volume of an antiferromagnet. Our findings suggest that current-induced order parameter dynamics can be used to coarsen the microstructure of antiferromagnetic thin films.