Enhanced spin Seebeck effect signal due to spin-momentum locked topological surface states
Name
Enhanced spin.pdf
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1.12 MB
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Jiang, Zilong
Masir, Massoud Ramezani
Tang, Chi
Xu, Yadong
MacDonald, Allan H.
Shi, Jing
Chang, Cui-zu
Moodera, Jagadeesh
Date Issued
May 2016
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Jiang, Zilong et al. “Enhanced Spin Seebeck Effect Signal due to Spin-Momentum Locked Topological Surface States.” Nature Communications 7 (2016): 11458.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Spin-momentum locking in protected surface states enables efficient electrical detection of magnon decay at a magnetic-insulator/topological-insulator heterojunction. Here we demonstrate this property using the spin Seebeck effect (SSE), that is, measuring the transverse thermoelectric response to a temperature gradient across a thin film of yttrium iron garnet, an insulating ferrimagnet, and forming a heterojunction with (Bi[subscript x]Sb[subscript 1−x])[subscript 2]Te[subscript 3], a topological insulator. The non-equilibrium magnon population established at the interface can decay in part by interactions of magnons with electrons near the Fermi energy of the topological insulator. When this decay channel is made active by tuning (Bi[subscript x]Sb[subscript 1−x])[subscript 2]Te[subscript 3] into a bulk insulator, a large electromotive force emerges in the direction perpendicular to the in-plane magnetization of yttrium iron garnet. The enhanced, tunable SSE which occurs when the Fermi level lies in the bulk gap offers unique advantages over the usual SSE in metals and therefore opens up exciting possibilities in spintronics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11458
