Enhancement of YIG$|$Pt spin conductance by local Joule annealing

Abstract

We report that Joule heating can be used to enhance the interfacial spin conductivity between a metal and an oxide. We observe that local annealing of the interface at about 550\,K by injecting large current densities ($>10^{12}{\text{A/m}}^2$) into a pristine 7\,nm thick Pt nanostrip evaporated on top of yttrium iron garnet (YIG), can improve the spin transmission up to a factor 3: a result of particular interest for interfacing ultra thin garnet films where strong chemical etching of the surface has to be avoided. The effect is confirmed by different methods: spin Hall magnetoresistance, spin pumping and non-local spin transport. We use it to study the influence of the YIG$|$Pt coupling on the non-linear spin transport properties. We find that the cross-over current from a linear to a non-linear spin transport regime is independent of this coupling, suggesting that the behavior of pure spin currents circulating in the dielectric are mostly governed by the physical properties of the bare YIG film beside the Pt nanostrip.

References in corpus (6)

• Direct electronic measurement of the spin Hall effect
• Theory of spin Hall magnetoresistance
• Magnon Mediated Electric Current Drag Across a Ferromagnetic Insulator Layer
• Spin Insulatronics
• Large enhancement of the spin Hall effect in Au by scattering with side-jump on Ta impurities
• Impact of the interface quality of Pt/YIG(111) hybrids on their spin Hall magnetoresistance

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Exceptional sign changes of the non-local spin Seebeck effect in antiferromagnetic hematite
• All-electrical Magnon Transport Experiments in Magnetically Ordered Insulators
• Dispersionless propagation of ultra-short spin-wave pulses in ultrathin yttrium iron garnet waveguides
• Short-range Thermal Magnon Diffusion in Magnetic Garnet
• Non-local magnon transconductance in extended magnetic insulating films.\\ Part I: spin diode effect
• Non-local magnon-based transport in yttrium iron garnet/platinum heterostructures at high temperatures