Modulation of pure spin currents with a ferromagnetic insulator

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate spin manipulation by magnetically controlled modulation of pure spin currents in cobalt/copper lateral spin valves, fabricated on top of the magnetic insulator Y${}_3$Fe${}_5$O${}_{12}$ (YIG). The direction of the YIG magnetization can be controlled by a small magnetic field. We observe a clear modulation of the non-local resistance as a function of the orientation of the YIG magnetization with respect to the polarization of the spin current. Such a modulation can only be explained by assuming a finite spin-mixing conductance at the Cu/YIG interface, as it follows from the solution of the spin-diffusion equation. These results open a new path towards the development of spin logics.

5 pages and 4 figures + supplemental material (10 pages, 7 figures)

References in corpus (5)

• Spin Transfer Torques
• Direct electronic measurement of the spin Hall effect
• Spin Seebeck insulator
• Theory of spin Hall magnetoresistance
• Contribution of defects to the spin relaxation in copper nanowires

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Control of spin current by a magnetic YIG substrate in NiFe/Al nonlocal spin valves
• Temperature dependence of the effective spin-mixing conductance probed with lateral non-local spin valves
• Weak de-localization in graphene on a ferromagnetic insulating film
• Quantification of interfacial spin-charge conversion in metal/insulator hybrid structures by generalized boundary conditions