Persistent Interfacial Topological Hall Effect Demonstrating Electrical Readout of Topological Spin Structures in Insulators
Jing Li, Huilin Lai, Andrew H. Comstock, Aeron McConnell, Bharat Giri, Yu Yun, Tianhao Zhao, Xiao Wang, Yongseong Choi, Xuemei Cheng, Jian Shen, Zhigang Jiang, Dali Sun, Wenbin Wang, Xiaoshan Xu
Published: 2025/9/16
Abstract
Conventional topological Hall effects (THE) require conducting magnets, leaving insulating systems largely inaccessible. Here we introduce the interfacial topological Hall effect (ITHE), where the noncoplanar spin textures of insulating magnets are imprinted onto an adjacent heavy metal via the magnetic proximity effect (MPE) and detected electrically. In Pt/h-LuFeO3 bilayers, h-LuFeO3 hosts a topological spin structure robust against high magnetic fields, arising from a 120{\deg} triangular spin lattice with small spin canting that yields nontrivial topology but minimal magnetization. This generates a giant Hall response in Pt up to 0.5% of the longitudinal resistivity and a Hall-conductivity/magnetization ratio above 2 V^{-1}, clearly distinguishable from the spin Hall Hanle effect background. Field- and temperature-dependent analysis further reveals that Pt nanoclusters inherit topological textures from h-LuFeO3 via MPE. Unlike the conventional THE narrow peak-and-dip features, ITHE in Pt/h-LuFeO3 persists across a broad magnetic field range up to 14 T, demonstrating the exceptional stability of the underlying topological spin structure. This establishes ITHE as a powerful and sensitive probe for topological magnetism in ultrathin insulating films and paves the way for new spintronic applications.