Dynamical Spin Injection Research Articles

Thickness dependence on dynamical spin injection driven by thermal effects in CoFeB/Pt bilayer

In ferromagnetic metal (FM)/non-magnetic metal (NM) bilayer structures, dynamical spin injection is primarily attributed to spin pumping at the interface. However, thermal effects, such as the spin (dependent) Seebeck effect (S(d)SE) caused by FMR heating effect, are also expected to contribute, particularly farther from the interface within the FM layer. In this study, the detailed mechanism of dynamical spin injection in CoFeB/Pt bilayer films has been investigated. We demonstrate the proper evaluation of the CoFeB thickness dependence of inverse spin Hall voltage by subtracting the signal from single CoFeB system. The dynamical spin injection and FMR heating effect were observed to significantly depend on thickness. Additionally, we separated the contributions of SSE and SdSE by focusing on their diffusion properties and found that SSE is larger than SdSE in the CoFeB/Pt bilayer film.

Influence of heat flow control on dynamical spin injection in CoFeB/Pt/CoFeB trilayer

A dynamical spin injection based on the ferromagnetic resonance in a ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic bi-layered structure, is a powerful mean for generating and manipulating the spin current. Although the mechanism of the dynamical spin injection is mainly attributed to the spin pumping, the detailed mechanism and the quantitative understanding for related phenomena are still controversial. As an another important contribution to the dynamical spin injection, the heating effect due to the resonant precessional motion of the magnetization is pointed out recently. In order to quantify the contribution from the heating effect, we here investigate the dynamical spin injection in a CoFeB/Pt/CoFeB trilayer. Although the contribution from the spin pumping diminishes because of the symmetric spin injection from the upper and lower interfaces, a significant inverse spin Hall voltage has been clearly observed. We show that the observed voltage can be quantitatively understood by the thermal spin injection due to a heating effect during the ferromagnetic resonance. A proper combination between the spin pumping and the heat-flow control in the multi-layered system is a key for the efficient dynamical spin injection.

Pressure-induced enhancement of spin-charge conversion efficiency in CoFeB/Pt bilayer

We experimentally investigate the influence of the pressure on the spin-charge conversion efficiency in a CoFeB/Pt bilayer system by using a specially designed pressure-cell setup. The dc voltage spectra under the dynamical spin injection is found to show the systematic increase with increasing pressure. These modifications can be understood by the enhancement of the spin-charge conversion efficiency due to the modulation of the spin-orbit interaction and/or the exchange interaction at the interface. The present demonstration indicates that the pressure provides a tunable functionality for the physical constants in spintronic devices.

Ultrafast Spin‐Charge Conversion at SnBi2Te4/Co Topological Insulator Interfaces Probed by Terahertz Emission Spectroscopy

AbstractSpin‐to‐charge conversion (SCC) involving topological surface states (TSS) is one of the most promising routes for highly efficient spintronic devices for terahertz (THz) emission. Here, the THz generation generally occurs mainly via SCC consisting in efficient dynamical spin injection into spin‐locked TSS. In this work, sizable THz emission from a nanometric thick topological insulator (TI)/ferromagnetic junction—SnBi2Te4/Co—specifically designed to avoid bulk band crossing with the TSS at the Fermi level, unlike its parent material Bi2Te3 is demonstrated. THz emission time domain spectroscopy (TDS) is used to indicate the TSS contribution to the SCC by investigating the TI thickness and angular dependence of the THz emission. This work illustrates THz emission TDS as a powerful tool alongside angular resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) methods to investigate the interfacial spintronic properties of TI/ferromagnet bilayers.

Quantitative Evaluation of Heating Effect on Dynamical Spin Injection Using CoFeB/Pt/CoFeB Trilayered Film

We have examined a dynamical spin injection in a CoFeB/Pt/CoFeB trilayered structure. Although the contribution of the spin pumping was eliminated by the symmetric spin injection from the upper and lower CoFeB layers, a clear voltage change due to the inverse spin Hall effect has been observed. We find that the observed signal can be quantitatively explained by considering the thermal spin injection due to the heating effect during ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). This innovative demonstration indicates the significant contribution of FMR heating in the dynamical spin injection.

Significant suppression of galvanomagnetic signal under dynamical spin injection in CoFeB/Pt bilayer

An effective detection structure for a dynamical spin injection in a ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic metal bilayer has been developed. We demonstrate a clear detection of a highly symmetric signal, indicating a significant suppression of spurious signals due to the galvanomagnetic effects from the ferromagnetic layer. The angular dependence of the signal amplitude assures that the observed signal is caused by the inverse spin Hall effect due to the dynamical spin injection. We also find the importance of the eddy current that induces spin-rectified signals from a ferromagnetic layer.

Signature of spin-dependent Seebeck effect in dynamical spin injection of metallic bilayer structures

The dynamical spin injection in a ferromagnetic/paramagnetic bilayer with various paramagnetic layers has been examined by using the inverse spin Hall effect. We adapt a CoFeB film as a ferromagnetic layer, which has a large spin dependent Seebeck coefficient. The contribution of the spin pumping was evaluated from the line-width change of the ferromagnetic resonant spectra while that of the thermal spin injection was evaluated from the heat conductivity for the paramagnetic layer. We find that the spin Hall voltage does not show the systematic change with respect to the line-width change. However, the normalized spin Hall voltage is found to increase with the heat conductivity for the paramagnetic layer. These results suggest that the thermal spin injection is a major contribution for the dynamical spin injection in CoFeB/paramagnetic bilayer systems.

Wideband and On-Chip Excitation for Dynamical Spin Injection into Graphene

Graphene is an ideal material for spin transport as very long spin relaxation times and lengths can be achieved even at room temperature. However, electrical spin injection is challenging due to the conductivity mismatch problem. Spin pumping driven by ferromagnetic resonance is a neat way to circumvent this problem as it produces a pure spin current in the absence of a charge current. Here, we show spin pumping into single layer graphene in micron scale devices. A broadband on-chip RF current line is used to bring micron scale permalloy (Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$) pads to ferromagnetic resonance with a magnetic field tunable resonance condition. At resonance, a spin current is emitted into graphene, which is detected by the inverse spin hall voltage in a close-by platinum electrode. Clear spin current signals are detected down to a power of a few milliwatts over a frequency range of 2 GHz to 8 GHz. This compact device scheme paves the way for more complex device structures and allows the investigation of novel materials.

Dynamic spin injection into a quantum well coupled to a spin-split bound state

We present a theoretical analysis of dynamic spin injection due to spin-dependent tunneling between a quantum well (QW) and a bound state split in spin projection due to an exchange interaction or external magnetic field. We focus on the impact of Coulomb correlations at the bound state on spin polarization and sheet density kinetics of the charge carriers in the QW. The theoretical approach is based on kinetic equations for the electron occupation numbers taking into account high order correlation functions for the bound state electrons. It is shown that the on-site Coulomb repulsion leads to an enhanced dynamic spin polarization of the electrons in the QW and a delay in the carriers tunneling into the bound state. The interplay of these two effects leads to non-trivial dependence of the spin polarization degree, which can be probed experimentally using time-resolved photoluminescence experiments. It is demonstrated that the influence of the Coulomb interactions can be controlled by adjusting the relaxation rates. These findings open a new way of studying the Hubbard-like electron interactions experimentally.

Dynamical Spin Injection Based on Heating Effect due to Ferromagnetic Resonance

Spin pumping is recognized as a powerful means to create spin current from the precession of magnetization. Taking a hint from spin caloritronics, the authors demonstrate an unconventional mechanism of dynamical spin injection, based on the heating due to ferromagnetic resonance. Using a high-performance ferromagnetic alloy for the thermal process, efficient dynamical spin injection is achieved. This ingenuity opens another avenue for wireless spintronic devices.

Microscopic formulation of dynamical spin injection in ferromagnetic-nonmagnetic heterostructures

We develop a microscopic formulation of dynamical spin injection in heterostructure comprising nonmagnetic metals in contact with ferromagnets. The spin pumping current is expressed in terms of Green's functions of the nonmagnetic metal attached to the ferromagnet where a precessing magnetization is induced. The formulation allows for the inclusion of spin-orbit coupling and disorder. The Green's functions involved in the expression for the current are expressed in real-space lattice coordinates and can thus be efficiently computed using recursive methods.

Spin Seebeck effect through antiferromagnetic NiO

We report temperature-dependent spin-Seebeck measurements on Pt/YIG bilayers and Pt/NiO/YIG trilayers, where YIG (Yttrium iron garnet, Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$) is an insulating ferrimagnet and NiO is an antiferromagnet at low temperatures. The thickness of the NiO layer is varied from 0 to 10 nm. In the Pt/YIG bilayers, the temperature gradient applied to the YIG stimulates dynamic spin injection into the Pt, which generates an inverse spin Hall voltage in the Pt. The presence of a NiO layer dampens the spin injection exponentially with a decay length of $2 \pm 0.6$ nm at 180 K. The decay length increases with temperature and shows a maximum of $5.5 \pm 0.8$ nm at 360 K. The temperature dependence of the amplitude of the spin-Seebeck signal without NiO shows a broad maximum of $6.5 \pm 0.5$ $\mu$V/K at 20 K. In the presence of NiO, the maximum shifts sharply to higher temperatures, likely correlated to the increase in decay length. This implies that NiO is most transparent to magnon propagation near the paramagnet-antiferromagnet transition. We do not see the enhancement in spin current driven into Pt reported in other papers when 1-2 nm NiO layers are sandwiched between Pt and YIG.

Spin transport in p-type germanium

We report on the spin transport properties in p-doped germanium (Ge-p) using low temperature magnetoresistance measurements, electrical spin injection from a ferromagnetic metal and the spin pumping-inverse spin Hall effect method. Electrical spin injection is carried out using three-terminal measurements and the Hanle effect. In the 2–20 K temperature range, weak antilocalization and the Hanle effect provide the same spin lifetime in the germanium valence band (≈1 ps) in agreement with predicted values and previous optical measurements. These results, combined with dynamical spin injection by spin pumping and the inverse spin Hall effect, demonstrate successful spin accumulation in Ge. We also estimate the spin Hall angle in Ge-p (6–) at room temperature, pointing out the essential role of ionized impurities in spin dependent scattering.

Temperature dependence of inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect at metallic interface

We report temperature evolution of spin-charge conversion through the inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect (IREE) in a metallic heterostructure. The IREE was induced in a Ag/Bi junction by spin pumping, dynamical spin injection from a ferromagnetic metal; nonequilibrium spin accumulation created in the Ag/Bi junction is converted into a charge current at the interface. By measuring the charge current arising from the IREE at different temperatures, we found that the spin-charge conversion efficiency is almost independent of temperature. This method offers a versatile route for probing the spin-orbit coupling at metallic interfaces under various conditions, promising further development of spin-orbit physics and spin-based technologies.

Dynamical spin injection at a quasi-one-dimensional ferromagnet-graphene interface

We present a study of dynamical spin injection from a three-dimensional ferromagnet into two-dimensional single-layer graphene. Comparative ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) studies of ferromagnet/graphene strips buried underneath the central line of a coplanar waveguide show that the FMR linewidth broadening is the largest when the graphene layer protrudes laterally away from the ferromagnetic strip, indicating that the spin current is injected into the graphene areas away from the area directly underneath the ferromagnet being excited. Our results confirm that the observed damping is indeed a signature of dynamical spin injection, wherein a pure spin current is pumped into the single-layer graphene from the precessing magnetization of the ferromagnet. The observed spin pumping efficiency is difficult to reconcile with the expected backflow of spins according to the standard spin pumping theory and the characteristics of graphene, and constitutes an enigma for spin pumping in two-dimensional structures.

Antiferromagnonic spin transport from Y3Fe5O12 into NiO.

We observe highly efficient dynamic spin injection from Y3Fe5O12 (YIG) into NiO, an antiferromagnetic (AF) insulator, via strong coupling, and robust spin propagation in NiO up to 100-nm thickness mediated by its AF spin correlations. Strikingly, the insertion of a thin NiO layer between YIG and Pt significantly enhances the spin currents driven into Pt, suggesting exceptionally high spin transfer efficiency at both YIG/NiO and NiO/Pt interfaces. This offers a powerful platform for studying AF spin pumping and AF dynamics as well as for exploration of spin manipulation in tailored structures comprising metallic and insulating ferromagnets, antiferromagnets, and nonmagnetic materials.

Dynamically generated pure spin current in single-layer graphene

The conductance mismatch problem limits the spin-injection efficiency significantly, and spin-injection into graphene has been usually requiring high-quality tunnel barriers to circumvent the conductance mismatch. We introduce a novel approach, which enables generation of a pure spin current into single-layer graphene (SLG) free from electrical conductance mismatch by using dynamical spin injection. Experimental demonstration of spin-pumping-induced spin current generation and spin transport in SLG at room temperature was successfully achieved and the spin coherence was estimated to be 1.36 {\mu}m by using a conventional theoretical model based on Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation. The spin coherence is proportional to the quality of SLG, which indicates that spin relaxation in SLG is governed by the Elliot-Yafet mechanism as was reported.

Dynamic spin injection into chemical vapor deposited graphene

We demonstrate dynamic spin injection into chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown graphene by spin pumping from permalloy (Py) layers. Ferromagnetic resonance measurements at room temperature reveal a strong enhancement of the Gilbert damping at the Py/graphene interface, indeed exceeding that observed in Py/platinum interfaces. Similar results are also shown on Co/graphene layers. This enhancement in the Gilbert damping is understood as the consequence of spin pumping at the interface driven by magnetization dynamics. Our observations suggest a strong enhancement of spin-orbit coupling in CVD graphene, in agreement with earlier spin valve measurements.