Spintronics team in the Institute of Electronics at AGH University of Kraków. We design, fabricate, measure and model spintronic micro- and nano-devices — from magnetic tunnel junctions to spin-orbit torque memory and neuromorphic hardware.
dr hab. inż.
dr hab. inż.
dr hab. inż.
dr hab.
dr inż.
dr inż.
dr inż.
dr
mgr inż.
mgr inż.
mgr inż.
mgr
prof. dr hab.
dr inż.
mgr inż.
The MagLay spintronics team in the Institute of Electronics at AGH University of Kraków consists of 8 permanent researchers (associate and assistant professors with one technician) and 4 PhD and undergraduate students. We have thorough experience in designing, fabrication, measurements and modelling of various types of spintronic micro- and nano-devices. We participate in ongoing international and national projects, and in the past we took part in several EU-level, bilateral and national research projects.
End-to-end capability: from thin-film deposition, through cleanroom nanofabrication (ISO5–ISO7), to cryogenic and high-frequency characterisation and computational modelling.
Multiple-target magnetron sputtering system (Prevac) with magnetic (Py, Co, Fe) and nonmagnetic (W, Ta, Pt, Ti, Cu, Cr) target materials. Wedge deposition capability for combinatorial thickness studies and automated multilayer recipes for complex heterostructure stacks.
Full specs
Cleanroom facilities (ISO5–ISO7) with e-beam lithography (down to 10 nm), laser lithography (down to 1 µm), ion beam etching with SIMS spectrometer (atomic etching precision) and in-situ insulators and conductors deposition.
Full specs
Electrical and magnetic characterisation of spintronic samples. Rotating probe station for RF transport measurements up to 31 GHz in magnetic fields up to 1 T, cryogenic station (15–475 K), MOKE setup and VNA-based FMR.
Full specs
Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect setup for hysteresis loop measurements and domain imaging. Longitudinal and polar configurations; µm-spot focused laser with Kerr rotation sensitivity of 10−4 deg. Used for fast screening of magnetic anisotropy and switching fields in thin-film heterostructures.
Full specsLow-frequency noise spectroscopy of magnetic tunnel junctions and GMR spin-valves. Automated 1/f and white noise characterisation combined with SPICE and stochastic-LLG simulations to model noise sources and optimise sensor detectivity.
Full specs
Atomic Force Microscopy for nanoscale surface characterisation. Veeco AFM measures topography and roughness; NT-MDT enables Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) to image magnetic domain structure of thin-film heterostructures.
Full specs
X-Ray Diffraction for structural and phase analysis. Philips X'Pert diffractometer determines crystal structure, lattice parameters and texture of deposited films; X-ray reflectometry (XRR) provides precise thickness and interface roughness data.
Full specs
GPU-accelerated micromagnetic (OOMMF, MuMax3) and macrospin (LLG) simulations. Finite-element thermal and spin-transport modelling. In-house open-source PyMAG framework for automated parameter sweeps, Bayesian optimisation and ML-assisted magnetisation dynamics analysis.
Full specsInteractive visualisations of the physical effects our devices exploit. Click each card to explore.
Electrons quantum-mechanically tunnel through an ultrathin MgO barrier (∼1 nm). The tunneling probability depends on the relative orientation of magnetisation in the two ferromagnetic electrodes — parallel ↑↑ yields low resistance, antiparallel ↑↓ yields high resistance — enabling TMR ratios exceeding 200% at room temperature.
A charge current flowing through a heavy metal (Pt, W, Ta) generates a transverse spin current via the spin Hall effect. This spin current exerts a torque on the adjacent ferromagnet's magnetisation, enabling deterministic switching at sub-nanosecond timescales without passing current through the tunnel barrier.
Collective precessional excitations of the magnetisation lattice propagate as spin waves (magnons). These carry information without moving charge, dissipating orders-of-magnitude less energy than conventional electric currents — a pathway to wave-based, interference-driven computing at GHz–THz frequencies.
Applying a microwave-frequency RF field to a ferromagnet in an external DC field drives resonant magnetisation precession at the Larmor frequency. FMR spectroscopy reveals damping constants, anisotropy fields, spin-mixing conductance and interlayer exchange coupling — essential parameters for device design.
In magnetic multilayers (Fe/Cr/Fe), electrons experience spin-dependent scattering at ferromagnetic interfaces. Majority-spin carriers traverse parallel-configured layers nearly unimpeded; in antiparallel stacks every carrier scatters heavily at one interface, yielding resistance ratios of 10–80% — the foundation of hard-drive read heads.
A skyrmion is a topologically protected nanoscale spin vortex stabilised by the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. Spins rotate continuously from out-of-plane at the core to in-plane at the boundary, encoding a topological charge Q = ±1. They can be driven by ultra-low current densities (~106 A/m²), making them promising for racetrack memory.
A current-driven domain wall moves along a magnetic nanowire via spin-transfer torque from spin-polarised conduction electrons. The adiabatic and non-adiabatic (β) torque components together propel the Bloch/Néel wall at velocities up to 100 m/s, enabling high-density racetrack memory architectures.
When spin-polarised electrons enter a free ferromagnetic layer, their transverse angular momentum is absorbed, exerting torque τ = (ℏη J)/(2eM tF) m̂ × (m̂ × p̂) on the magnetisation. Above a critical current density ~107 A/cm², the precession cone widens until the moment switches in 1–10 ns — the write mechanism in STT-MRAM.
Ongoing international and national research projects.
Polish-Chinese NCN project (2021/40/Q/ST5/00209) since September 2022. PI: Witold Skowroński. Partner: prof. Tianxiang Nan, School of Integrated Circuits, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. The project investigates quantum materials for advanced control of spin-orbit torques in novel heterostructures.
NCN project (2021/41/B/ST7/04504) since February 2022. PI: Piotr Wiśniowski. The project focuses on understanding fundamental noise limits and detection capabilities of tunnel magnetoresistive spintronic sensors for ultra-sensitive applications.
NAWA Bekker Programme 2020 (BPN/BKK/2022/1/00010) since March 2024. PI: Witold Skowroński. The programme supports international research on magnetisation dynamics in hybrid spintronic structures combining ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic and heavy-metal layers.
AGH IDUB grant 4 since September 2022. PI: Jarosław Kanak. Development of thin-film systems of metallic superlattices and rare earths with transition metals based on spin-orbit interactions.
AGH IDUB grant 21 (8821) since March 2024. PI: Witold Skowroński. Seed funding for new research directions in spintronic device engineering.
AGH IDUB grant 4 (9840) since May 2024. PI: Witold Skowroński, Anna Kozioł-Rachwał (Physics Department). Demagnetisation processes, magnetic domains and symmetries in coupled hybrid magnetic multilayer systems.
Thin Films Team — prof. Piotr Kuświk
Poznań, PolandSchool of Integrated Circuits — prof. Tianxiang Nan
Beijing, Chinadr inż. Jerzy Wrona
Kahl am Main, GermanyClarendon Laboratory — dr. Safeer C.K.
Oxford, UKdr. Michaela Kuepferling
Torino, ItalyResearch Center for Emerging Computing Technologies — prof. Shinji Yuasa
Tsukuba, JapanNanomagnetism and Spintronics — prof. Sebastiaan van Dijken
Espoo, Finlandprof. Susana Cardoso
Lisbon, PortugalOur latest collaborative paper has been published in Nature Scientific Reports. The study demonstrates a wafer-scale FMR characterisation methodology for SOT heterostructures, allowing rapid mapping of magnetic anisotropy and Gilbert damping across combinatorial film thickness gradients.
During the inaugural UNCOMP Symposium on Unconventional Computing at AGH, we hosted Prof. Tianxiang Nan (Tsinghua University) for an invited lecture on acoustic-wave-driven spintronic devices. His visit sparked new collaborative directions in magnon-phonon coupling for hybrid RF filters.
Dr. Piotr Rzeszut — our recent PhD graduate — has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious ABB Doctoral Award recognising the best doctoral dissertation in electrical engineering and related fields. His thesis on voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy in MTJ stacks attracted broad industrial interest.