Interplay of wave localization and turbulence in spin Seebeck effect

C. Wang, Yunshan Cao, X. R. Wang, and Peng Yan
Phys. Rev. B 98, 144417 – Published 10 October 2018

Abstract

One of the most important discoveries in spintronics is the spin Seebeck effect (SSE), recently observed in both insulating and (semi)conducting magnets. However, the very existence of the effect in transverse configuration is still a subject of current debate. In this paper, motivated by the concept and the formulation of the mode-dependent magnon temperature introduced recently [Yan et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 024417 (2017)], we develop a wave theory to explain the SSE by highlighting the interplay between wave localization and turbulence. We show that the emerging SSE with a sign change in the high/low-temperature regions is closely related to the extendedness of the spin wave that senses an average temperature of the system. On the one hand, ubiquitous disorders (or magnetic field gradients) can strongly suppress the transverse spin Seebeck effect (TSSE) due to the Anderson (or Wannier-Zeeman) spin-wave localization. On the other hand, the competing spin-wave turbulence from the magnetic anisotropy tends to delocalize the wave, and thus remarkably revives the TSSE before the magnon self-trapping. Our findings reveal the significant role of the magnetic anisotropy played in SSE and provide an appealing way to enhance the TSSE signal by choosing proper materials and sample shape.

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  • Received 15 April 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.144417

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

C. Wang1,2, Yunshan Cao1, X. R. Wang2,3,*, and Peng Yan1,†

  • 1School of Electronic Science and Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Film and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
  • 2Physics Department, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
  • 3HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China

  • *Corresponding author: phxwan@ust.hk
  • Corresponding author: yan@uestc.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 14 — 1 October 2018

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