Spin current from sub-terahertz-generated antiferromagnetic magnons

Junxue Li, C. Blake Wilson, Ran Cheng, Mark Lohmann, Marzieh Kavand, Wei Yuan, Mohammed Aldosary, Nikolay Agladze, Peng Wei, Mark S. Sherwin and Jing Shi ()
Additional contact information
Junxue Li: University of California
C. Blake Wilson: University of California
Ran Cheng: University of California
Mark Lohmann: University of California
Marzieh Kavand: University of California
Wei Yuan: University of California
Mohammed Aldosary: University of California
Nikolay Agladze: University of California
Peng Wei: University of California
Mark S. Sherwin: University of California
Jing Shi: University of California

Nature, 2020, vol. 578, issue 7793, 70-74

Abstract: Abstract Spin dynamics in antiferromagnets has much shorter timescales than in ferromagnets, offering attractive properties for potential applications in ultrafast devices1–3. However, spin-current generation via antiferromagnetic resonance and simultaneous electrical detection by the inverse spin Hall effect in heavy metals have not yet been explicitly demonstrated4–6. Here we report sub-terahertz spin pumping in heterostructures of a uniaxial antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 crystal and a heavy metal (Pt or Ta in its β phase). At 0.240 terahertz, the antiferromagnetic resonance in Cr2O3 occurs at about 2.7 tesla, which excites only right-handed magnons. In the spin-canting state, another resonance occurs at 10.5 tesla from the precession of induced magnetic moments. Both resonances generate pure spin currents in the heterostructures, which are detected by the heavy metal as peaks or dips in the open-circuit voltage. The pure-spin-current nature of the electrically detected signals is unambiguously confirmed by the reversal of the voltage polarity observed under two conditions: when switching the detector metal from Pt to Ta, reversing the sign of the spin Hall angle7–9, and when flipping the magnetic-field direction, reversing the magnon chirality4,5. The temperature dependence of the electrical signals at both resonances suggests that the spin current contains both coherent and incoherent magnon contributions, which is further confirmed by measurements of the spin Seebeck effect and is well described by a phenomenological theory. These findings reveal the unique characteristics of magnon excitations in antiferromagnets and their distinctive roles in spin–charge conversion in the high-frequency regime.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-1950-4

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