Measurement of current-generated torques in transition metal dichalcogenide / ferromagnet bilayers

We present measurements of current-generated torques in ferromagnet / transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) bilayers for a wide range of semi-conducting TMDs, including MoS$_{\mathrm{2}}$, MoSe$_{\mathrm{2}}$, WS$_{\mathrm{2}}$ and WSe$_{\mathrm{2}}$. TMDs present a unique opportunity to study interfacial spin-orbit torques at the two dimensional limit due to a wide range in material properties and large spin-orbit coupling. Thin TMD films are either grown by chemical vapor deposition or exfoliated from readily available TMD crystals and are incorporated into ferromagnet / TMD bilayers by either evaporation or off-axis sputtering of the ferromagnet to avoid damage to the TMD surface. Measurements of the current-generated torque are made by spin transfer ferromagnetic resonance and the magneto-optical Kerr effect. Dependence on layer number, spin-orbit coupling strength, mobility and gate dependence will be explored.