Anisotropic Spin Relaxation Induced by Surface Spin-Orbit Effects

Abstract

It is a common perception that the transport of a spin current in polycrystalline metal is isotropic and independent of the polarization direction, even though spin current is a tensorlike quantity and its polarization direction is a key variable. We demonstrate surprising anisotropic spin relaxation in mesoscopic polycrystalline Cu channels in nonlocal spin valves. For directions in the substrate plane, the spin-relaxation length is longer for spins parallel to the Cu channel than for spins perpendicular to it, by as much as 9% at 10 K. Spin-orbit effects on the surfaces of Cu channels can account for this anisotropic spin relaxation. The finding suggests novel tunability of spin current, not only by its polarization direction but also by electrostatic gating.

(#) C. Zhou and F. Kandaz contributed equally to this work. Main text (22 pages, 4 figures) + Supplementary material (9 pages, 3 figures)

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Calculating the spin memory loss at Cu$|$metal interfaces from first principles
• Magnetic damping anisotropy in the two-dimensional van der Waals material Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$ from first principles
• Anisotropic Spin Relaxation Induced by Surface Spin-Orbit Effects
• Highly tunable Gilbert damping in two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2: From bilayer to the twisted bilayer