No Arabic abstract
Spin waves can probe the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) which gives rise to topological spin textures, such as skyrmions. However, the DMI has not yet been reported in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) with arguably the lowest damping for spin waves. In this work, we experimentally evidence the interfacial DMI in a 7~nm-thick YIG film by measuring the nonreciprocal spin wave propagation in terms of frequency, amplitude and most importantly group velocities using all electrical spin-wave spectroscopy. The velocities of propagating spin waves show chirality among three vectors, i.e. the film normal direction, applied field and spin-wave wavevector. By measuring the asymmetric group velocities, we extract a DMI constant of 16~$mu$J/m$^{2}$ which we independently confirm by Brillouin light scattering. Thickness-dependent measurements reveal that the DMI originates from the oxide interface between the YIG and garnet substrate. The interfacial DMI discovered in the ultrathin YIG films is of key importance for functional chiral magnonics as ultra-low spin-wave damping can be achieved.
Spin-orbit effects [1-4] have the potential of radically changing the field of spintronics by allowing transfer of spin angular momentum to a whole new class of materials. In a seminal letter to Nature [5], Kajiwara et al. showed that by depositing Platinum (Pt, a normal metal) on top of a 1.3 $mu$m thick Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG, a magnetic insulator), one could effectively transfer spin angular momentum through the interface between these two different materials. The outstanding feature was the detection of auto-oscillation of the YIG when enough dc current was passed in the Pt. This finding has created a great excitement in the community for two reasons: first, one could control electronically the damping of insulators, which can offer improved properties compared to metals, and here YIG has the lowest damping known in nature; second, the damping compensation could be achieved on very large objects, a particularly relevant point for the field of magnonics [6,7] whose aim is to use spin-waves as carriers of information. However, the degree of coherence of the observed auto-oscillations has not been addressed in ref. [5]. In this work, we emphasize the key role of quasi-degenerate spin-wave modes, which increase the threshold current. This requires to reduce both the thickness and lateral size in order to reach full damping compensation [8] , and we show clear evidence of coherent spin-orbit torque induced auto-oscillation in micron-sized YIG discs of thickness 20 nm.
Spin-phonon interaction is an important channel for spin and energy relaxation in magnetic insulators. Understanding this interaction is critical for developing magnetic insulator-based spintronic devices. Quantifying this interaction in yttrium iron garnet (YIG), one of the most extensively investigated magnetic insulators, remains challenging because of the large number of atoms in a unit cell. Here, we report temperature-dependent and polarization-resolved Raman measurements in a YIG bulk crystal. We first classify the phonon modes based on their symmetry. We then develop a modified mean-field theory and define a symmetry-adapted parameter to quantify spin-phonon interaction in a phonon-mode specific way for the first time in YIG. Based on this improved mean-field theory, we discover a positive correlation between the spin-phonon interaction strength and the phonon frequency.
Spin information carried by magnons is attractive for computing technology and the development of magnon-based computing circuits is of great interest. However, magnon transport in insulators has been challenging, different from the clear physical picture for spin transport in conductors. Here we investigate the lateral transport properties of thermally excited magnons in yttrium iron garnet (YIG), a model magnetic insulator. Polarity reversals of detected spins in non-local geometry devices have been experimentally observed and are strongly dependent on temperature, YIG film thickness, and injector-detector separation distance. A competing two-channel transport model for thermally excited magnons is proposed, which is qualitatively consistent with the spin signal behavior. In addition to the fundamental significance for thermal magnon transport, our work furthers the development of magnonics by creating an easily accessible magnon source with controllable transport
A wide variety of new phenomena such as novel magnetization configurations have been predicted to occur in three dimensional magnetic nanostructures. However, the fabrication of such structures is often challenging due to the specific shapes required, such as magnetic tubes and spirals. Furthermore, the materials currently used to assemble these structures are predominantly magnetic metals that do not allow to study the magnetic response of the system separately from the electronic one. In the field of spintronics, the prototypical material used for such experiments is the ferrimagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$, YIG). YIG is one of the best materials especially for magnonic studies due to its low Gilbert damping. Here, we report the first successful fabrication of YIG thin films via atomic layer deposition. To that end we utilize a supercycle approach based on the combination of sub-nanometer thin layers of the binary systems Fe$_2$O$_3$ and Y$_2$O$_3$ in the correct atomic ratio on Y$_3$Al$_5$O$_{12}$ substrates with a subsequent annealing step. Our process is robust against typical growth-related deviations, ensuring a good reproducibility. The ALD-YIG thin films exhibit a good crystalline quality as well as magnetic properties comparable to other deposition techniques. One of the outstanding characteristics of atomic layer deposition is its ability to conformally coat arbitrarily-shaped substrates. ALD hence is the ideal deposition technique to grant an extensive freedom in choosing the shape of the magnetic system. The atomic layer deposition of YIG enables the fabrication of novel three dimensional magnetic nanostructures, which in turn can be utilized for experimentally investigating the phenomena predicted in those structures.
We investigated spin wave (SW) propagation and emission in thin film systems with strong interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) utilizing micromagnetic simulation. The effect of DMI on SW propagation is analogous to the flow of magnetic medium leading to the spin Doppler effect, and a spin-polarized current can enhance or suppress it. It is demonstrated that, for a Doppler velocity exceeding a critical value, a shock-wave-like emission of SWs with a cone-shape emerges from a magnetically irregular point as the cone apex. The cone angle is quantitatively determined by the DMI-induced Doppler velocity. Combining the interfacial DMI and the spin-polarized current, a constant SW emission by a static source is demonstrated, which provides a promising route to efficiently generate SWs with tunable frequency.