Thermal Spin Current Research Articles

Enriching 2D transition metal borides via MB XMenes (M = Fe, Co, Ir): Strong correlation and magnetism.

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) FeSe-like anti-MXenes (or XMenes), composed of late d-block transition metal M and p-block nonmetal X elements, have been both experimentally and theoretically investigated. Here, we select three 2D borides FeB, CoB and IrB for a deeper investigation by including strong correlation effects, as a fertile ground for understanding and applications. Using a combination of Hubbard corrected first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo simulations, FeB and CoB are found to be ferro- and anti-ferro magnetic, contrasting with the non-magnetic nature of IrB. The metallic FeB XMene monolayer, superior to most of the MXenes or MBenes, exhibits robust ferromagnetism, driven by intertwined direct-exchange and super-exchange interactions between adjacent Fe atoms. The predicted Curie temperature (TC) of the FeB monolayer via the Heisenberg model reaches an impressive 425 K, with the easy-axis oriented out-of-plane and high magnetic anisotropic energy (MAE). The asymmetry in the spin-resolved transmission spectrum induces a thermal spin current, providing an opportunity for spin filtration. This novel 2D FeB material is expected to hold great promise as an information storage medium and find applications in emerging spintronic devices.

Thermally generated spin current in the topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3

We present measurements of thermally generated transverse spin currents in the topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 , thereby completing measurements of interconversions among the full triad of thermal gradients, charge currents, and spin currents. We accomplish this by comparing the spin Nernst magneto-thermopower to the spin Hall magnetoresistance for bilayers of Bi 2 Se 3 /CoFeB. We find that Bi 2 Se 3 does generate substantial thermally driven spin currents. A lower bound for the ratio of spin current density to thermal gradient is J s ∇ x T = (4.9 ± 0.9) × 10 6 ( ℏ 2 e ) A m − 2 K μ m − 1 , and a lower bound for the magnitude of the spin Nernst ratio is −0.61 ± 0.11. The spin Nernst ratio for Bi 2 Se 3 is the largest among all materials measured to date, two to three times larger compared to previous measurements for the heavy metals Pt and W. Strong thermally generated spin currents in Bi 2 Se 3 can be understood via Mott relations to be due to an overall large spin Hall conductivity and its dependence on electron energy.

Spin transport modified by magnetic order

Spintronics has developed over the years from initially generating spin-polarized charge currents from exchange interaction in ferromagnets, into a more general concept, where electronic spin current can be generated and manipulated by spin–orbit interactions and in addition magnonic spin currents can occur in magnetically ordered materials even if they are insulating. Thus the interplay between spin transport and magnetic order has been a very active research field, which has developed many new ideas, such as thermal spin transport and electronic spin currents with unusual symmetries generated by magnetically ordered materials. This article discusses a few selected examples in order to illustrate some of the complexities that can be encountered in these systems. A particular focus is on the contributions from Chia-Ling Chien and his research group, who often explored many of the topics at the forefront of spintronics research, while critically examining unproven assumptions made by other researchers in the field.

Domain-wall dynamics driven by thermal and electrical spin-transfer torque

According to spin Seebeck effect, a thermal spin current will be produced when a temperature gradient is applied to the metallic ferromagnet. Similar to the electrical spin transfer torque (ESTT) induced by spin-polarized current, there is also a thermal spin transfer torque (TSTT) caused by the thermal spin current, which can be attributed to the s-d interaction between the conduction electrons and the local magnetization. In this paper, the generalized analytical expressions of thermal spin current and TSTT are derived based on the spinor Boltzmann equation (SBE) under the local equilibrium approximation. This generalized TSTT has different terms compared to the previous phenomenological form, and the phenomenological coefficients can be determined theoretically within our framework. Combined with the SBE under the applied electric field and temperature gradient, we solve the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Levy equation to study the domain wall (DW) motion driven by the ESTT and TSTT. We investigated the temperature-dependent DW motion, the total spin torque, and TSTT in permalloys. We found that the velocity of the DW can be promoted by increasing temperature and temperature gradient, which provide a path to effectively utilize the Joule heating in spintronics devices.

Strain-induced spin-gapless semiconductors and pure thermal spin-current in magnetic black arsenic-phosphorus monolayers.

Spin-gapless semiconductor (SGS) materials are regarded as the most promising candidates for ideal massless and dissipationless states towards low-power spintronic device applications. Here, we propose a spin-gapless semiconducting black arsenic-phosphorus (AsP) monolayer halogenated by chlorine (Cl) adatoms and reveal the perfect spin Seebeck effect induced by its SGS character to produce pure thermal spin-current using first-principles calculations. Our results show that Cl atoms prefer to adsorb P atoms rather than As atoms in the AsP monolayer, behaving as a ferromagnetic semiconductor. The As-adsorbed AsP monolayer as an ideal SGS material with parabolic-type energy dispersion can be utilized to realize symmetrical spin Seebeck current for perfect pure thermal spin-current even at an extremely low on-off temperature. Moreover, in-plane strain engineering can effectively manipulate the electronic structures of the P-absorbed AsP monolayer for perfect parabolic-type SGS similar to As-adsorbed AsP, and to obtain the relevant thermoelectric effect. These distinct features suggest the potential applications of the Cl-halogenated AsP monolayer with the SGS character in low-power spin-caloritronic devices.

The unification of electric and thermal spin transfer torque in spintronics

There exist two kinds of spin transfer torque in spintronics: the electric spin transfer torque (STT) caused by spin-polarized current and the thermal spin torque (TSTT) caused by thermal spin current. In this manuscript, we will derive a unified torque which contain both of them. Based on spinor Boltzmann equation, we investigate the torques in a magnetoelectric device applied by voltage bias and temperature gradient, and find that the unified STT are contributed by two sources: the spin-polarized current induced by bias and the thermal spin current induced by the temperature gradient, moreover the TSTT can be further divided as local equilibrium TSTT and nonequilibrium TSTT. In addition to the usual electric STT and TSTT, a new term also appear in our expression, which can be interpreted by the inhomogeneity of magnetization. We illustrate them by an example of electric and thermal transport through a ferromagnet subject to some device, in which those torques originate from different sources are manifested quantitatively.

Temperature bias-driven diode effect in a semiconductor quantum dot

A spin-dependent Seebeck diode is theoretically proposed, which consists of the junction with a semiconductor quantum dot sandwiched between the ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic leads. It is shown that both thermoelectric and thermal-spin currents driven by temperature bias exhibit asymmetric IC(S)−ΔT characteristics. In the Coulomb blockade regime, anomalous suppression of the thermoelectric (thermal-spin) current is observed at the forward thermal bias direction (ΔT>0). This asymmetry in the current profile suggests a diode-like behavior with respect to temperature bias. More interesting, the diode behavior of both thermoelectric and thermal-spin currents can be switched and even reversed by tuning the gate voltage, which may be facilely realized in experiments. This device scheme can be compatible with current technologies and has potential applications in spintronics or quantum processing.

Pure thermal spin current and perfect spin-filtering with negative differential thermoelectric resistance induced by proximity effect in graphene/silicene junctions

The spin-dependent Seebeck effect (SDSE) and thermal spin-filtering effect (SFE) are now considered as the essential aspects of the spin caloritronics, which can efficiently explore the relationships between the spin and heat transport in the materials. However, there is still a challenge to get a thermally-induced spin current with no thermal electron current. This paper aims to numerically investigate the spin-dependent transport properties in hybrid graphene/silicene nanoribbons (GSNRs), using the nonequilibrium Green’s function method. The effects of temperature gradient between the left and right leads, the ferromagnetic exchange field, and the local external electric fields are also included. The results showed that the spin-up and spin-down currents are produced and flow in opposite directions with almost equal magnitudes. This evidently shows that the carrier transport is dominated by the thermal spin current, whereas the thermal electron current is almost disappeared. A pure thermal spin current with the finite threshold temperatures can be obtained by modulating the temperature, and a negative differential thermoelectric resistance is obtained for the thermal electron current. A nearly zero charge thermopower is also obtained, which further demonstrates the emergence of the SDSE. The response of the hybrid system is then varied by changing the magnitudes of the ferromagnetic exchange field and local external electric fields. Thus, a nearly perfect SFE can be observed at room temperature, whereas the spin polarization efficiency is reached up to 99%. It is believed that the results obtained from this study can be useful to well understand the inspiring thermospin phenomena, and to enhance the spin caloritronics material with lower energy consumption.

Circularly-polarized light controlled thermal spin transport in stanene nanoribbon

The major challenge of spintronics lies in how to generate, manipulate, and detect spin current. Multiple methods, such as using magnetic materials, magnetic field, and polarized light field to manipulate the spin of electrons, have been proposed. Owing to the possible applications in spintronic devices, there is currently great interest in the field of spin caloritronics, which focuses on the interplay of spin and heat currents. Stanene is a type of two-dimensional topological insulator consisting of a single layer of Sn atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. In this paper, the effects of light and electric fields on the spin-dependent thermoelectric effect of the stanene nanoribbon are studied theoretically based on the non-equilibrium Green’s function method. The results show that the properties and intensity of the thermoelectric current can be effectively controlled by the intensity and the polarization direction of the circularly polarized light field. Under the joint action of a strong circularly-polarized light field and an electric field, the stanene can transform from a quantum spin-Hall insulator into a spin-polarized quantum Hall insulator. When the left-circularly-polarized light field is applied, the spin-down edge states of stanene undergo a phase transition to form a bandgap, and a 100% spin-polarized spin-down current driven by temperature gradient can be obtained. When the right-circularly-polarized light is applied, the edge states of spin-up electrons are destroyed, and a completely polarized spin-up thermal current can be generated. In the weak external field, the properties of the edge state do not change, and the system does not output a thermoelectric current. In addition, the study shows that the intensity of the thermal spin current is related to the width of the bandgap, and a moderate increase in temperature can significantly increase the peak value of the current, but the higher equilibrium temperature and temperature gradient will restrain the spin thermoelectric effect.

Observation of Thermal Spin-Orbit Torque in W/CoFeB/MgO Structures.

Coupling of spin and heat currents enables the spin Nernst effect, the thermal generation of spin currents in nonmagnets that have strong spin-orbit interaction. Analogous to the spin Hall effect that electrically generates spin currents and associated electrical spin-orbit torques (SOTs), the spin Nernst effect can exert thermal SOTs on an adjacent magnetic layer and control the magnetization direction. Here, the thermal SOT caused by the spin Nernst effect is experimentally demonstrated in W/CoFeB/MgO structures. It is found that an in-plane temperature gradient across the sample generates a magnetic torque and modulates the switching field of the perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB. The W thickness dependence suggests that the torque originates mainly from thermal spin currents induced in W. Moreover, the thermal SOT reduces the critical current for SOT-induced magnetization switching, demonstrating that it can be utilized to control the magnetization in spintronic devices.

Generating pure spin current in zigzag graphene nanoribbons by a thermal gradient: the effect of edge doping with BN pairs

Based on density functional theory combined with non-equilibrium Green’s function method, we investigate the thermoelectric transport properties of zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) co-doped by two BN pairs at one edge. By applying the co-doping scheme of BN pairs instead of single B and N atoms as reported in literature, the energy of the quasi-bound states gets very close to the Fermi level. Due to the back scattering from the quasi-bound states, transmission valleys appear around the Fermi level, which results in a large transmission slope and Seebeck thermopower for both spin channels. Interestingly, the signs of the Seebeck thermopower of the two spin channels are opposite and the magnitudes are nearly equal, which can be utilized for generating pure spin current with a thermal gradient. More importantly, the thermal spin current is robust against the change of the distance between the two BN pairs and the doping configuration. These findings suggest a fascinating strategy for thermal spin current generation using BN pair co-doping and will be significant for the design of spintronic devices based on graphene nanoribbons.

Spin-orbit coupling induced robust spin-Seebeck effect and pure thermal spin currents in achiral molecule systems

Spin-Seebeck effect (SSE) is an effective route to realize pure spin current by using spin-polarized electrons or spin-wave transport in magnetic systems. Here we propose a route, i.e., by using spin-orbit coupling (SOC), to achieve robust SSE characterized by pure thermal spin current. The material examples are constructed on achiral nanotubes, and the theoretical results reveal that (i) as temperature gradient is applied along the nanotubes, thermal spin-up and spin-down currents with opposite flow directions are produced without any accompanying charge current, (ii) the SSE is robust against decoherence and nonuniform interchain SOC, (iii) the thermal spin currents display a multioscillation feature with increasing device temperatures, supporting their potential device applications in thermal spin-current multiswitcher, and (vi) strain engineering in the radical direction of nanotubes is an effective way to improve SSE and to control pure thermal spin current. These inspiring spin transport behaviors in achiral molecular systems put forward a mechanism to realize the robust SSE characterized by pure spin current and develop the research field of spin-orbito-caloritronics, which focuses on the interplay of electrons' spin and orbital degrees of freedom in the presence of temperature gradient.

Half-wave rectification of ac-magnetic-field effects by mixing thermal spin and charge currents in a NiO/Pt nanostructure

In this paper, we present the proof-of-concept of a device for rectifying ac-magnetic-field effects by mixing thermal spin and charge currents. The device consists of a NiO/Pt bilayer in which a pure spin current is generated perpendicularly to the sample plane by means of the spin Seebeck effect. The pure spin current, created in the NiO layer, is injected into the Pt layer and is converted into a charge current by means of the inverse spin Hall effect, which is measured by electrical contacts. Due to the combination of two effects, the spin Seebeck and the planar Nernst effect, the overall response of the device as a function of a magnetic field is similar to the one of a rectifying diode. The resulting charge current mainly flows in one direction, approaching zero for negative values of the magnetic field when the spin Seebeck voltage has an opposite sign and magnitude close to the planar Nernst effect contribution. This remarkable effect is well explained by analyzing the response function as well as taking into account the magnon diffusion theory for the spin Seebeck effect. We believe that this proof of concept is of interest to the development of spintronic devices.

Spin Thermoelectric Effects in a Three-Terminal Double-Dot Interferometer**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11604113 and the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China under Grant No. 17KJB140004

We theoretically investigate the thermoelectric properties of a three-terminal double-dot interferometer with Rashba spin-orbit interaction. It is found that with some temperature distributions a thermal spin current can even be produced without the help of magnetic flux and by tuning the spin interference effect in the system, a pure spin or fully spin-polarized current can be driven by temperature differences. For the cases that two of the terminals are held at the same temperature, the charge (spin) thermopower and the charge (spin) figure of merit are defined and calculated in the linear response regime. With some choices of the system parameters the calculated spin and charge thermopowers are of the same order of magnitude and the charge figure of merit can exceed 1.

Spin current generation by thermal gradient in graphene/h-BN/graphene lateral heterojunctions

Electron transport driven by a temperature gradient in a transport junction constructed by connecting a zigzag hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanoribbon between two graphene nanoribbons (Gr/BN/Gr) is studied by density functional calculations and non-equilibrium Green’s function method. When the zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons are in the ferromagnetic configuration, the BN barrier introduces a spin-dependent scattering and causes an ‘X’-type spin-dependent transmission functions around the Fermi level at equilibrium. In a linear response approximation, this gives rise to a Seebeck thermopower with opposite signs for different spins. It drives electrons with different spins to flow in opposite directions under a finite temperature gradient. Calculations show that the charge current is zero while spin current is not, thus pure spin current is generated. These findings suggests the great importance of BN barrier in the generation of thermal spin current using graphene and the idea should be taken into consideration in the design of spintronic devices using two dimensional materials.

Spin caloritronics in armchair silicene nanoribbons with sp3 and sp2-type alternating hybridizations

Finite-layer nanoribbon materials have long been considered as potential candidates for nanodevices with novel quantum effects. Here we constructed a series of ferromagnetic armchair silicene nanoribbons (ASiNRs) with sp3 and sp2-type alternating hybridizations, and found that the ASiNRs with different widths are localized in different spin-resolved electronic states. As the width parameter N is increased from 5 to 22, the ASiNR transits from indirect-gap half metallicity (HM), to indirect-gap spin semiconductor (SC), then to direct-gap SC and finally to direct-gap HM. When a temperature gradient is produced along the nanoribbons, the spin-dependent currents with the opposite flow directions are driven and a nearly perfect spin-dependent Seebeck effect (SDSE) occurs. Moreover, attributing to symmetrical spin-resolved transport channels, nearly pure thermal spin current without any accompanying charge current can be generated. In addition, for some ASiNRs with proper widths, both the thermal spin-up current and spin-down one are contributed by the electrons in energy valleys, resulting in a well-defined valley-dependent SDSE. These theoretical findings suggest that the ASiNRs with the sp3 and sp2-type alternating hybridizations can be outstanding candidates for future spin caloritronic devices.

Spin transport in multilayer systems with fully epitaxial NiO thin films

We report on the generation and transport of thermal spin currents in fully epitaxial {\gamma}-Fe$_2$O$_3$/NiO(001)/Pt and Fe$_3$O$_4$/NiO(001)/Pt trilayers. A thermal gradient, perpendicular to the plane of the sample, generates a magnonic spin current in the ferrimagnetic maghemite ({\gamma}-Fe$_2$O$_3$) and magnetite (Fe$_3$O$_4$) thin films by means of the spin Seebeck effect. The spin current propagates across the epitaxial, antiferromagnetic insulating NiO layer, before being detected in the Pt layer by the inverse spin Hall effect. The transport of the spin signal is studied as a function of the NiO thickness, temperature and ferrimagnetic material where the spin current is generated. In epitaxial NiO grown on maghemite, the spin Seebeck signal decays exponentially as a function of the NiO thickness, with a spin-diffusion length for thermally-generated magnons of {\lambda}$_{MSDL}$ = $1.6 \pm 0.2$ nm, largely independent on temperature. We see no enhancement of the spin current signal as previously reported for certain temperatures and thicknesses of the NiO. In epitaxial NiO grown on magnetite, the temperature-averaged spin diffusion length is {\lambda}$_{MSDL}$ = $3.8 \pm 0.3$ nm, and we observe an enhancement of the spin signal when the NiO thickness is 0.8 nm, demonstrating that the growth conditions dramatically affect the spin transport properties of the NiO even for full epitaxial growth. In contrast to theoretical predictions for coherent spin transport, we do not see vastly different spin diffusion lengths between epitaxial and polycrystalline NiO layers.

Spin-current coherence peak in superconductor/magnet junctions

Coherence peak effects in a superconductor induced by a thermal spin current are reported. We measured inverse spin Hall effects induced by spin injection from a ferrimagnetic insulator Y3Fe5O12 into a superconductor NbN using longitudinal spin Seebeck effects. In the vicinity of the superconducting transition temperature of the NbN, a large enhancement of the spin Seebeck voltage is observed, whose sign is opposite to that for the vortex Nernst effect, but is consistent with a calculation for a coherence peak effect in the superconductor NbN.

Modification of the magnetization dynamics of a NiFe nanodot due to thermal spin injection

An array of NiFe nanodots has been prepared on a Cu/CoFeAl film. Since a thermal spin current is expected to be excited owing to a large spin-dependent Seebeck coefficient for the CoFeAl, we investigate the magnetization dynamics of the NiFe dots under the temperature gradient along the vertical direction. By using vector network analyzer measurements, we have demonstrated that the temperature gradient produces modulations of the frequency of ferromagnetic resonance and the linewidth of the resonance spectra. The observed parabolic dependences are well explained by the damping-like and field-like components of spin transfer torque.

Enhanced thermo-spin effects in iron-oxide/metal multilayers

Since the discovery of the spin Seebeck effect (SSE), much attention has been devoted to the study of the interaction between heat, spin, and charge in magnetic systems. The SSE refers to the generation of a spin current upon the application of a thermal gradient and detected by means of the inverse spin Hall effect. Conversely, the spin Peltier effect (SPE) refers to the generation of a heat current as a result of a spin current induced by the spin Hall effect. Here we report a strong enhancement of both the SSE and SPE in Fe3O4/Pt multilayered thin films at room temperature as a result of an increased thermo-spin conversion efficiency in the multilayers. These results open the possibility to design thin film heterostructures that may boost the application of thermal spin currents in spintronics.