Inverse spin-Hall effect and spin-swapping in spin-split superconductors

Abstract

When a spin-splitting field is introduced to a thin film superconductor, the spin currents polarized along the field couples to energy currents that can only decay via inelastic scattering. We study spin and energy injection into such a superconductor where spin-orbit impurity scattering yields inverse spin-Hall and spin-swapping currents. We show that the combined presence of a spin-splitting field, superconductivity, and inelastic scattering gives rise to a strong enhancement of the ordinary inverse spin-Hall effect, as well as unique inverse spin-Hall and spin-swapping signals orders of magnitude stronger than the ordinary inverse spin-Hall signal. These can be completely controlled by the orientation of the spin-splitting field, resulting in a long-range charge and spin accumulations detectable much further from the injector than in the normal-state. While the enhanced inverse spin-Hall signals offer a major improvement in spin detection sensitivity, the unique spin-swap signals can be utilized for designing devices where both the spin and current directions are controlled and altered throughout the geometry.

Main text: 6 pages, 3 figures. Supplemental material: 12 pages, 2 figures