  Efficient control of antiferromagnetic (AFM) domain switching in thin films
is vital for advancing antiferromagnet-based memory devices. In this study, we
directly observed the current-driven switching process of CoO AFM domains in
the Pt/CoO(001) bilayer by the magneto-optical birefringence effect. The
observed critical current density for AFM domain switching remains nearly
constant across varying CoO thicknesses, associated with the consistent
switching polarity n $\perp$ j, suggesting the dominance of the
thermomagnetoelastic effect, where and stand for Neel vector and current
density vector, respectively. Further confirmation comes from a similar
switching process with n $\perp$ j observed in the Pt/Al2O3/CoO sample,
excluding the contribution of spin current injection. Remarkably, it was also
surprisingly observed that the Neel vector can be further switched parallel to
the current direction (n//j) at higher current density. Our findings not only
enhance the understanding of current-driven AFM domain switching but also
present new avenues for manipulating AFM domains.
