Spin Seebeck Effect from Antiferromagnetic Magnons and Critical Spin Fluctuations in Epitaxial FeF_{2} Films.

Abstract

We report a longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (SSE) study in epitaxially grown FeF_{2}(110) antiferromagnetic (AFM) thin films with strong uniaxial anisotropy over the temperature range of 3.8-250K. Both the magnetic-field and temperature-dependent SSE signals below the Néel temperature (T_{N}=70 K) of the FeF_{2} films are consistent with a theoretical model based on the excitations of AFM magnons without any net induced static magnetic moment. In addition to the characteristic low-temperature SSE peak associated with the AFM magnons, there is another SSE peak at T_{N} which extends well into the paramagnetic phase. All the SSE data taken at different magnetic fields up to 12T near and above the critical point T_{N} follow the critical scaling law very well with the critical exponents for magnetic susceptibility of 3D Ising systems, which suggests that the AFM spin correlation is responsible for the observed SSE near T_{N}.