  The critical current needed to destabilize the magnetization of a
perpendicular ferromagnet via the spin Hall effect is studied. Both the
dampinglike and fieldlike torques associated with the spin current generated by
the spin Hall effect is included in the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation to
model the system. In the absence of the fieldlike torque, the critical current
is independent of the damping constant and is much larger than that of
conventional spin torque switching of collinear magnetic systems, as in
magnetic tunnel junctions. With the fieldlike torque included, we find that the
critical current scales with the damping constant as $\alpha^{0}$ (i.e.,
damping independent),$\alpha$, and $\alpha^{1/2}$ depending on the sign of the
fieldlike torque and other parameters such as the external field. Numerical and
analytical results show that the critical current can be significantly reduced
when the fieldlike torque possesses the appropriate sign, i.e. when the
effective field associated with the fieldlike torque is pointing opposite to
the spin direction of the incoming electrons. These results provide a pathway
to reducing the current needed to switch magnetization using the spin Hall
effect.
