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arXiv · 1603.00931

Enhancement of Thermally Injected Spin Current through an Antiferromagnetic Insulator

Weiwei Lin·Kai Chen·Shufeng Zhang·C. L. Chien
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Abstract

We report large enhancement of thermally injected spin current in normal metal (NM)/antiferromagnet(AF)/yttrium iron garnet(YIG), where a thin AF insulating layer of NiO or CoO can enhance spin current from YIG to a NM by up to a factor of 10. The spin current enhancement in NM/AF/YIG, with a pronounced maximum near the Néel temperature of the thin AF layer, has been found to scale linearly with the spin-mixing conductance at the NM/YIG interface for NM = 3d, 4d, and 5d metals. Calculations of spin current enhancement and spin mixing conductance are qualitatively consistent with the experimental results.

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Weiwei Lin, Kai Chen, Shufeng Zhang, C. L. Chien. 2016-04-04. Enhancement of Thermally Injected Spin Current through an Antiferromagnetic Insulator. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.116.186601

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