EventDetails

Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Gönnenwein, TU Dresden

Pure spin currents – i. e., directed flows of spin angular momentum – are a fascinating manifestation of spin physics in the solid state. Pure spin curren s can propagate not only in metals and semiconductors, but also in (magnetically ordered) insulators. This makes a whole new set of materials and material combinations interesting for spin transport experiments and spin-electronic devices. Moreover, robust experimental schemes for the generation and/or detection of pure spin currents have been established in the last decade. In ferromagnet/metal thin film heterostructures for example, spin currents can be generated by means of spin pumping [1-3], via the application of thermal gradients using the spin Seebeck effect [4,5], or the spin Nernst effect [6]. Taking advantage of spin Hall physics, spin currents can be converted into charge currents and thus detected using conventional electronics [2-8]. The interplay between spin and charge transport furthermore gives rise to the so-called spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) [7], which allows for the electrical quantification of spin transport parameters in magnetic insulator/normal metal nanostructures [7,8]. In the talk, I will give an introduction to pure spin current transport and spin Hall physics, and then ad¬dress recent highlights as well as interesting perspectives for spin current based experiments and spin current circuits.

References
[1] Y. Tserkovnyak et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 117601 (2002).
[2] F. D. Czeschka et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 046601 (2011).
[3] M. Weiler et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 176601 (2012).
[4] K. Uchida et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 172505 (2010).
[5] M. Weiler et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 106602 (2012).
[6] S. Meyer et al., Nat. Mater. 16, 977 (2017).
[7] H. Nakayama et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 206601 (2013).
[8] L. J. Cornelissen et al., Nat. Phys. 11, 1022 (2015).