Anisotropic absorption of pure spin currents

Journal article

Spin transfer in magnetic multilayers offers the possibility of ultra-fast, low-power device operation. We report a study of spin pumping in spin valves, demonstrating that a strong anisotropy of spin pumping from the source layer can be induced by an angular dependence of the total Gilbert damping parameter, a, in the spin sink layer. Using lab- and synchrotron-based ferromagnetic resonance, we show that an in-plane variation of damping in a crystalline leads to an anisotropic a in a polycrystalline . This anisotropy is suppressed above the spin diffusion length in Cr, which is found to be 8 nm, and is independent of static exchange coupling in the spin valve. These results offer a valuable insight into the transmission and absorption of spin currents, and a mechanism by which enhanced spin torques and angular control may be realized for next-generation spintronic devices.

Authors: Baker, A; Figueroa, A; Love, C; Cavill, S; Hesjedal, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Volume: 116
• Article number: 047201
• Publication date: 2016-01-27
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.047201
• EISSN: 1079-7114
• ISSN: 0031-9007