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Magnonic charge pumping via spin–orbit coupling

Nature Nanotechnology volume 10, pages 50–54 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The interplay between spin, charge and orbital degrees of freedom has led to the development of spintronic devices such as spin–torque oscillators and spin-transfer torque magnetic random-access memories. In this development, spin pumping represents a convenient way to electrically detect magnetization dynamics1,2,3,4,5,6. The effect originates from direct conversion of low-energy quantized spin waves in the magnet, known as magnons, into a flow of spins from the precessing magnet to adjacent leads. In this case, a secondary spin–charge conversion element, such as heavy metals with large spin Hall angle4,5,6 or multilayer layouts7, is required to convert the spin current into a charge signal. Here, we report the experimental observation of charge pumping in which a precessing ferromagnet pumps a charge current, demonstrating direct conversion of magnons into high-frequency currents via the relativistic spin–orbit interaction. The generated electric current, unlike spin currents generated by spin-pumping, can be directly detected without the need of any additional spin–charge conversion mechanism. The charge-pumping phenomenon is generic and gives a deeper understanding of its reciprocal effect, the spin orbit torque, which is currently attracting interest for their potential in manipulating magnetic information.

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Figure 1: Spin–orbit torque and charge pumping.
Figure 2: Charge-pumping experiment.
Figure 3: Theoretical modelling of measured angular dependence of charge pumping.

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Acknowledgements

A.F. acknowledges support from a Hitachi Research Fellowship and C.C. from a Junior Research Fellowship at Gonville and Caius College. V.N. acknowledges MSMT grant no. LM2011026.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Hidekazu Kurebayashi

    Present address: Present address: London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London WC1H 0AH, UK and Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, UK,

  2. Chiara Ciccarelli and Kjetil M. D. Hals: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK

    Chiara Ciccarelli, Andrew Irvine, Hidekazu Kurebayashi & Andrew Ferguson

  2. Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NO-7491, Norway

    Kjetil M. D. Hals & Arne Brataas

  3. Niels Bohr International Academy and the Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark

    Kjetil M. D. Hals

  4. Institute of Physics ASCR, v.v.i., Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Praha 6, Czech Republic

    Vit Novak

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Yaroslav Tserkovnyak

  6. PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, 332-0012, Japan

    Hidekazu Kurebayashi

Authors
  1. Chiara Ciccarelli
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Contributions

K.H. and A.B. developed the theory and suggested the experiment. C.C. and A.J.F. developed the experimental technique and performed the experimental work. V.N. grew the materials. A.I. performed the nanofabrication. C.C., K.H., A.B. and A.F. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arne Brataas.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ciccarelli, C., Hals, K., Irvine, A. et al. Magnonic charge pumping via spin–orbit coupling. Nature Nanotech 10, 50–54 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.252

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