Nonlocal Spin Transport Mediated by a Vortex Liquid in Superconductors

Abstract

Departing from the conventional view on superconducting vortices as a parasitic source of dissipation for charge transport, we propose to use mobile vortices as topologically-stable information carriers for spin transport. To this end, we start by constructing a phenomenological theory for the interconversion between spin and vorticity, a topological charge carried by vortices, at the interface between a magnetic insulator and a superconductor, by invoking the interfacial spin Hall effect therein. We then show that a vortex liquid in superconductors can serve as a spin-transport channel between two magnetic insulators by encoding spin information in the vorticity. The vortex-mediated nonlocal signal between the two magnetic insulators is shown to decay algebraically as a function of their separation, contrasting with the exponential decay of the quasiparticle-mediated spin transport. We envision that hydrodynamics of topological excitations, such as vortices in superconductors and domain walls in magnets, may serve as a universal framework to discuss long-range transport properties of ordered materials.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (13)

• Thermal, electric and spin transport in superconductor/ferromagnetic-insulator structures
• Abrikosov vortex nucleation and its detrimental effect on superconducting spin pumping in Pt/Nb/Ni80Fe20/Nb/Pt proximity structures
• Topological transport of deconfined hedgehogs in magnets
• Quantum Hydrodynamics of Vorticity
• Materials for Quantum Technologies: a Roadmap for Spin and Topology
• Spin currents driven by the Higgs mode in magnetic superconductors
• Spin current injection via equal-spin Cooper pairs in ferromagnet/superconductor heterostructures
• Majorana zero modes in a magnetic and superconducting hybrid vortex
• Controllable Vortex Loops in Superconducting Proximity Systems
• Spin Hall effect generated by fluctuating vortices in type-II superconductors
• Superconducting Vortices in Half-Metals
• Instability of Majorana states in Shiba chains due to leakage into a topological substrate
• Time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory of the vortex spin Hall effect