arXiv subjects

Brandon L. Giles

Publications and source records attributed to Brandon L. Giles.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Long lifetime of thermally-excited magnons in bulk yttrium iron garnet

Spin currents are generated within the bulk of magnetic materials due to heat flow, an effect called intrinsic spin-Seebeck. This bulk bosonic spin current consists of a diffusing thermal magnon cloud, parametrized by the magnon chemical potential ($μ_{m}$), with a diffusion length of several microns in yttrium iron garnet (YIG). Transient opto-thermal measurements of the spin-Seebeck effect (SSE) as a function of temperature reveal the time evolution of $μ_{m}$ due to intrinsic SSE in YIG. The interface SSE develops at times < 2 ns while the intrinsic SSE signal continues to evolve at times > 500 $μ$s, dominating the temperature dependence of SSE in bulk YIG. Time-dependent SSE data are fit to a multi-temperature model of coupled spin/heat transport using finite element method (FEM), where the magnon spin lifetime ($τ$) and magnon-phonon thermalization time ($τ_{mp}$) are used as fit parameters. From 300 K to 4 K, $τ_{mp}$ varies from 1 to 10 ns, whereas $τ$ varies from 2 to 60 $μ$s with the spin lifetime peaking at 90 K. At low temperature, a reduction in $τ$ is observed consistent with impurity relaxation reported in ferromagnetic resonance measurements. These results demonstrate that the thermal magnon cloud in YIG contains extremely low frequency magnons (~10 GHz) providing spectral insight to the microscopic scattering processes involved in magnon spin/heat diffusion.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Thermally Driven Long Range Magnon Spin Currents in Yttrium Iron Garnet due to Intrinsic Spin Seebeck Effect

The longitudinal spin Seebeck effect refers to the generation of a spin current when heat flows across a normal metal/magnetic insulator interface. Until recently, most explanations of the spin Seebeck effect use the interfacial temperature difference as the conversion mechanism between heat and spin fluxes. However, recent theoretical and experimental works claim that a magnon spin current is generated in the bulk of a magnetic insulator even in the absence of an interface. This is the so-called intrinsic spin Seebeck effect. Here, by utilizing a non-local spin Seebeck geometry, we provide additional evidence that the total magnon spin current in the ferrimagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) actually contains two distinct terms: one proportional to the gradient in the magnon chemical potential (pure magnon spin diffusion), and a second proportional to the gradient in magnon temperature ($\nabla T_m$). We observe two characteristic decay lengths for magnon spin currents in YIG with distinct temperature dependences: a temperature independent decay length of ~ 10 $μ$m consistent with earlier measurements of pure ($\nabla T_m = 0$) magnon spin diffusion, and a longer decay length ranging from about 20 $μ$m around 250 K and exceeding 80 $μ$m at 10 K. The coupled spin-heat transport processes are modeled using a finite element method revealing that the longer range magnon spin current is attributable to the intrinsic spin Seebeck effect ($\nabla T_m \neq 0$), whose length scale increases at lower temperatures in agreement with our experimental data.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Long range pure magnon spin diffusion observed in a non-local spin-Seebeck geometry

The spin diffusion length for thermally excited magnon spins is measured by utilizing a non-local spin-Seebeck effect measurement. In a bulk single crystal of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) a focused laser thermally excites magnon spins. The spins diffuse laterally and are sampled using a Pt inverse spin Hall effect detector. Thermal transport modeling and temperature dependent measurements demonstrate the absence of spurious temperature gradients beneath the Pt detector and confirm the non-local nature of the experimental geometry. Remarkably, we find that thermally excited magnon spins in YIG travel over 120 $μ$m at 23 K, indicating that they are robust against inelastic scattering. The spin diffusion length is found to be at least 47 $μ$m and as high as 73 $μ$m at 23 K in YIG, while at room temperature it drops to less than 10 $μ$m. Based on this long spin diffusion length, we envision the development of thermally powered spintronic devices based on electrically insulating, but spin conducting materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗