No Arabic abstract
Efficient spin/charge interconversion is desired to develop innovative spin-based devices. So far, the interconversion has been performed by using heavy atomic elements, strong spin-orbit interaction of which realizes the interconversion through the spin Hall effect and the Edelstein effect. We demonstrate highly efficient charge-to-spin conversion in a ferromagnetic metal/Cu/Al2O3 trilayers, which do not contain any heavy element. The resulting spin torque efficiency is higher than those of conventional spin Hall and Rashba systems consisting of heavy elements such as Pt and Bi. Our experimental results qualitatively deviate from typical behaviors arising from spin transport. However, they are surprisingly consistent with the behaviors arising from the orbital transport. Our results thus demonstrate a new direction for efficient charge-to-spin conversion through the orbital transport.
Spin orbit torques are of great interest for switching the magnetization direction in nanostructures, moving skyrmions and exciting spin waves. The standard method of determining their efficiency is by spin torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR), a technique that involves analyzing the resonance linewidth or lineshape. On microstuctures these two analysis methods are quite consistent. Here we present ST-FMR results on permalloy (Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$) nanowires -- with widths varying from $150$ to 800 nm -- that show that the standard model used to analyze the resonance linewidth and lineshape give different results; the efficiency appears greatly enhanced in nanowires when the lineshape method is used. A ST-FMR model that properly accounts for the sample shape is presented and shows much better consistency between the two methods. Micromagnetic simulations are used to verify the model. These results and the more accurate nanowire model presented are of importance for characterizing and optimizing charge-to-spin conversion efficiencies in nanostructures.
We show here theoretically and experimentally that a Rashba-split electron state inside a ferromagnet can efficiently convert a dynamical spin accumulation into an electrical voltage. The effect is understood to stem from the Rashba splitting but with a symmetry linked to the magnetization direction. It is experimentally measured by spin pumping in a CoFeB/MgO structure where it is found to be as efficient as the inverse spin Hall effect at play when Pt replaces MgO, with the extra advantage of not affecting the damping in the ferromagnet.
We here demonstrate the interfacial spin to charge current conversion by means of spin pumping from a ferromagnetic Permalloy (Py: Ni80Fe20) to a Cu/Bi2O3 interface. A clear signature of the spin to charge current conversion was observed in voltage spectrum of a Py/Cu/Bi2O3 trilayer film whereas no signature in a Py/Cu and Py/Bi2O3 bilayer films. We also found that the conversion coefficient strongly depended on Cu thickness, reflecting the thickness dependent momentum relaxation time in Cu layer.
As a non-magnetic heavy metal is attached to a ferromagnet, a vertically flowing heat-driven spin current is converted to a transverse electric voltage, which is known as the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (SSE). If the ferromagnet is a metal, this voltage is also accompanied by voltages from two other sources, i.e. the anomalous Nernst effect in both the ferromagnet and the proximity-induced ferromagnetic boundary layer. By properly identifying and carefully separating those different effects, we find that in this pure spin current circuit the additional spin current drawn by the heavy metal generates another significant voltage by the ferromagnetic metal itself which should be present in all relevant experiments.
SrTiO$_3$-based two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) can be formed through the deposition of epitaxial oxides like LaAlO$_3$ or of reactive metals such as Al. Such 2DEGs possess a finite Rashba spin-orbit coupling that has recently been harnessed to interconvert charge and spin currents through the direct and inverse Edelstein and spin Hall effects. Here we compare the formation and properties of 2DEGs generated in SrTiO$_3$ by the growth of Al, Ta and Y ultrathin films by magnetron sputtering. By combining in situ and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) we gain insight into the reduction of the SrTiO$_3$ and the appearance of Ti$^{3+}$ states associated with 2DEG formation, its reoxidation by exposure to the air, and the transformation of the metal into its binary oxides. We extract the carrier densities through magnetotransport and compare them with the XPS data. Finally, working with samples covered by an extra layer of NiFe, we perform spin-pumping ferromagnetic resonance experiments and investigate spin-charge conversion as a function of gate voltage. We identify trends in the data across the different sample systems and discuss them as a function of the carrier density and the transparency of the metal oxide tunnel barrier.