0000000001080952
AUTHOR
Markus Münzenberg
Terahertz spectroscopy for all-optical spintronic characterization of the spin-Hall-effect metals Pt, W and Cu80Ir20
Identifying materials with an efficient spin-to-charge conversion is crucial for future spintronic applications. In this respect, the spin Hall effect is a central mechanism as it allows for the interconversion of spin and charge currents. Spintronic material research aims at maximizing its efficiency, quantified by the spin Hall angle and the spin-current relaxation length . We develop an all-optical contact-free method with large sample throughput that allows us to extract and . Employing terahertz spectroscopy and an analytical model, magnetic metallic heterostructures involving Pt, W and Cu80Ir20 are characterized in terms of their optical and spintronic properties. The validity of our …
Efficient metallic spintronic emitters of ultrabroadband terahertz radiation
Terahertz electromagnetic radiation is extremely useful for numerous applications such as imaging and spectroscopy. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have an efficient table-top emitter covering the 1-to-30-THz window whilst being driven by a low-cost, low-power femtosecond laser oscillator. So far, all solid-state emitters solely exploit physics related to the electron charge and deliver emission spectra with substantial gaps. Here, we take advantage of the electron spin to realize a conceptually new terahertz source which relies on tailored fundamental spintronic and photonic phenomena in magnetic metal multilayers: ultrafast photo-induced spin currents, the inverse spin-Hall effect an…
On/off switching of bit readout in bias-enhanced tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect.
Thermoelectric effects in magnetic tunnel junctions are currently an attractive research topic. Here, we demonstrate that the tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect (TMS) in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB tunnel junctions can be switched on to a logic 1 state and off to 0 by simply changing the magnetic state of the CoFeB electrodes. We enable this new functionality of magnetic tunnel junctions by combining a thermal gradient and an electric field. This new technique unveils the bias-enhanced tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect, which can serve as the basis for logic devices or memories in a green information technology with a pure thermal write and read process. Furthermore, the thermally generated voltages that are re…
Femtosecond formation dynamics of the spin Seebeck effect revealed by terahertz spectroscopy
Understanding the transfer of spin angular momentum is essential in modern magnetism research. A model case is the generation of magnons in magnetic insulators by heating an adjacent metal film. Here, we reveal the initial steps of this spin Seebeck effect with <27fs time resolution using terahertz spectroscopy on bilayers of ferrimagnetic yttrium-iron garnet and platinum. Upon exciting the metal with an infrared laser pulse, a spin Seebeck current $j_\textrm{s}$ arises on the same ~100fs time scale on which the metal electrons thermalize. This observation highlights that efficient spin transfer critically relies on carrier multiplication and is driven by conduction electrons scattering …