2011/10/31 by M. Weiler, H. Huebl, F. S. Goerg +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.108.176601
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 176601 (2012) · New Appendix, minor revisions to main text
arxiv created 2012/02/17 · arxiv updated 2013/10/30
We show that the resonant coupling of phonons and magnons can be exploited to generate spin currents at room temperature. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) pulses with a frequency of 1.55 GHz and duration of 300 ns provide coherent elastic waves in a ferromagnetic thin film/normal metal (Co/Pt) bilayer. We use the inverse spin Hall voltage in the Pt as a measure for the spin current and record its evolution as a function of time and external magnetic field magnitude and orientation. Our experiments show that a spin current is generated in the exclusive presence of a resonant elastic excitation. This establishes acoustic spin pumping as a resonant analogue to the spin Seebeck effect.