Thermal and Electrical Probes of Spin Effects in Antiferromagnets: a Revisitation and a New Idea?

Barry Zink, University of Denver

The thermal injection of spin currents across an interface from insulators with a wide range of magnetic ordered states into metals that convert this spin to measurable charge, is known as the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (LSSE). This effect has proven to be a powerful means to probe the fundamental spin properties of magnetically ordered materials. In recent years, the LSSE and its related electrical effect, spin Hall magnetoresistance (SHMR), have proven especially interesting in a range of antiferromagnetic materials, which can be difficult to probe using more traditional magnetic characterization techniques. In this talk, the first focus is on spin-charge conversion in polycrystalline chromium, an antiferromagnetic metal. Our recent studies using standard [1] and local-heating LSSE techniques [2] show that antiferromagnetism may play a role in the spin-conversion, which was not apparent from earlier work on this material. SHMR measurements made as part of the locally-heated LSSE show unexpected symmetries that may also relate to a role for AFM order. I will then discuss ongoing work on related probes of antiferromagnetic spin effects in field-controllable coupled AFM/FM perovskite oxide systems. Here, dramatic field dependence of the electrical Hall signals are seen when Pt is in contact with the material, while absence of Pt or presence of metals that disturb the AFM order change both the signal sizes and field symmetry. This suggests new routes to low-field control of spin transport in such coupled FM/AFM oxide systems. This work is supported by the US National Science Foundation (DMR-2004646 and EECS-2116991)

[1] S. M. Bleser et al, Journal of Applied Physics. 131, 113904 (2022).
[2] S. M. Bleser, et al, in preparation

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