SPICE Workshop on Ferrons and Magnons: friends or foes? July 7th - 9th, 2026
Hyungyu Jin
Magnon valves are fundamental building blocks for magnon-based memory and logic devices, providing switchable on/off control of magnon transport. Such valves can be realized using thermally driven magnon currents, for example through the spin Seebeck effect. Beyond proof-of-concept demonstrations, a central challenge in developing practically relevant magnon valves is to improve the on/off ratio and the contrast between the two magnetic states. In this talk, we present our recent efforts toward addressing these challenges. To enhance the on/off signal ratio, we optimize ferromagnetic insulator (FMI)/spacer/FMI trilayer structures and explore spin-detection layers with efficient spin-to-charge conversion. To achieve clearer separation between the on and off states, we further develop a new exchange-bias structure that pins one of the FMI layers. Finally, we introduce our recent experimental investigation of thermally driven ferron transport. The observed thermoelectric response may be associated with a ferron-drag Seebeck effect, providing a possible new route for coupling ferroelectric excitations with thermal and electrical transport.