Electrically detected ferromagnetic resonance in polycrystalline YIG covered with a layer of Ag paint

Abstract

Recently, ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) in insulating YIG film was shown to be driven by microwave current in the Pt film deposited on the top of YIG film and detected as a dc voltage in the Pt layer due to spin Hall effect and/or spin rectification[1,2]. Here, we demonstrate an alternative method to study FMR in ceramic YIG. A polycrystalline pellet was made from YIG nanopowder by sintering in the air at 900oC for 12 hr. Magnetization at 300K, shown in the main panel of Fig.1(a), affirms the soft ferromagnetic nature of YIG. The upper inset in (a) illustrates the sketch of our experimental setup. Since the resistance of YIG could not be measured by the impedance analyzer, a layer of silver paint was coated on the top surface of the sample and at two ends to allow radio-frequency current to flow. The sample bridges the signal line and the ground plane of the sample stage, which is connected to the impedance analyzer via a rigid coaxial cable. A microwave signal is injected into the Ag paint layer through the signal line. Resistive and reactance of the Ag-paint were measured while sweeping frequency at different values of the dc magnetic field,H. The lower inset shows magnetoresistance MR(b) and magnetoreactance MX(c) for five frequencies (f) as H decreased from 3 kOe to 0 Oe. The MR of the Ag-paint for 3 GHz exhibits a prominent peak at H = Hr around which MX crosses zero. Both the amplitude of the peak in MR and Hr decreases as f decreases. We argue that the peak in MR is caused by FMR. The inset shows the dependence of Hr on f and we are able to fit the data with Kittel’s relation for in-plane FMR. The observed electrical detection of FMR in YIG with colloidal silver particles having weak spin-orbit coupling than Pt deserves an urgent understanding.R. M. thanks the Ministry of Education, Singapore for support (Grant no. R144-000-442-114).  Fig. 1 (a) M-H isotherm of YIG sample at 300 K(main panel) and the schematic diagram of the experimental setup (upper inset). Field dependence of (b) magnetoresistance MR)and (c) magnetoreactance MX at selected frequencies of current excitation (bottom inset). Inset in (b) shows the frequency dependence of the resonance field (symbols) and Kittel's fit for FMR.