Search

Ferrimagnetic ${\mathrm{Y}}_{3}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$ (YIG) is the prototypical material for studying magnonic properties due to its exceptionally low damping. By substituting the yttrium with rare earth elements that have a net magnetic moment, we can introduce an additional spin degree of freedom. Here, we study the magnetic coupling in epitaxial ${\mathrm{Y}}_{3}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$/${\mathrm{Gd}}_{3}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$ (YIG/GIG) heterostructures grown by pulsed laser deposition. From bulk sensitive magnetometry and surface sensitive spin Seebeck effect and spin Hall magnetoresistance measurements, we determine the alignment of the heterostructure magnetization as a function temperature and external magnetic field. The ferromagnetic coupling between the $\mathrm{Fe}$ sublattices of YIG and GIG dominates the overall behavior of the heterostructures. Because of the temperature-dependent gadolinium moment, a magnetic compensation point of the total bilayer system can be identified. This compensation point shifts to lower temperatures with increasing YIG thickness due the parallel alignment of the iron moments. We show that we can control the magnetic properties of the heterostructures by tuning the thickness of the individual layers, opening up a large playground for magnonic devices based on coupled magnetic insulators. These devices could potentially control the magnon transport analogously to electron transport in giant magnetoresistive devices.

Information transport and processing by pure magnonic spin currents in insulators is a promising alternative to conventional charge-current-driven spintronic devices. The absence of Joule heating and reduced spin wave damping in insulating ferromagnets have been suggested for implementing efficient logic devices. After the successful demonstration of a majority gate based on the superposition of spin waves, further components are required to perform complex logic operations. Here, we report on magnetization orientation-dependent spin current detection signals in collinear magnetic multilayers inspired by the functionality of a conventional spin valve. In Y3Fe5O12|CoO|Co, we find that the detection amplitude of spin currents emitted by ferromagnetic resonance spin pumping depends on the relative alignment of the Y3Fe5O12 and Co magnetization. This yields a spin valve-like behavior with an amplitude change of 120% in our systems. We demonstrate the reliability of the effect and identify its origin by both temperature-dependent and power-dependent measurements., The Joule heating free magnon spintronics advances conventional electronics but demands more magnon-based logic operations. Here the authors achieved the magnon spin valve functionality in a YIG/CoO/Co structure where the amplitude of transmitted magnon from the YIG layer is dependent on the relative alignment of the YIG and Co magnetization.

We probe the current-induced magnetic switching of insulating antiferromagnet/heavy metals systems, by electrical spin Hall magnetoresistance measurements and direct imaging, identifying a reversal occurring by domain wall (DW) motion. We observe switching of more than one third of the antiferromagnetic domains by the application of current pulses. Our data reveal two different magnetic switching mechanisms leading together to an efficient switching, namely the spin-current induced effective magnetic anisotropy variation and the action of the spin torque on the DWs., 26 pages, including supplementary material