Long-Range Phonon Spin Transport in Ferromagnet-Nonmagnetic Insulator Heterostructures

Electrically Induced Angular Momentum Flow between Separated Ferromagnets

Converting angular momentum between different degrees of freedom within a magnetic material results from a dynamic interplay between electrons, magnons, and phonons. This interplay is pivotal to implementing spintronic device concepts that rely on spin angular momentum transport. We establish a new concept for long-range angular momentum transport that further allows us to address and isolate the magnonic contribution to angular momentum transport in a nanostructured metallic ferromagnet. To this end, we electrically excite and detect spin transport between two parallel and electrically insulated ferromagnetic metal strips on top of a diamagnetic substrate. Charge-to-spin current conversion within the ferromagnetic strip generates electronic spin angular momentum that is transferred to magnons via electron-magnon coupling. We observe a finite angular momentum flow to the second ferromagnetic strip across a diamagnetic substrate over micron distances, which is electrically detected in the second strip by the inverse charge-to-spin current conversion process. We discuss phononic and dipolar interactions as the likely cause to transfer angular momentum between the two strips. Moreover, our Letter provides the experimental basis to separate the electronic and magnonic spin transport and thereby paves the way towards magnonic device concepts that do not rely on magnetic insulators.

Unconventional magnetism mediated by spin-phonon-photon coupling

Magnetic order typically emerges due to the short-range exchange interaction between the constituent electronic spins. Recent discoveries have found a crucial role for spin-phonon coupling in various phenomena from optical ultrafast magnetization switching to dynamical control of the magnetic state. Here, we demonstrate theoretically the emergence of a biquadratic long-range interaction between spins mediated by their coupling to phonons hybridized with vacuum photons into polaritons. The resulting ordered state enabled by the exchange of virtual polaritons between spins is reminiscent of superconductivity mediated by the exchange of virtual phonons. The biquadratic nature of the spin-spin interaction promotes ordering without favoring ferro- or antiferromagnetism. It further makes the phase transition to magnetic order a first-order transition, unlike in conventional magnets. Consequently, a large magnetization develops abruptly on lowering the temperature which could enable magnetic memories admitting ultralow-power thermally-assisted writing while maintaining a high data stability. The role of photons in the phenomenon further enables an in-situ static control over the magnetism. These unique features make our predicted spin-spin interaction and magnetism highly unconventional paving the way for novel scientific and technological opportunities.

Observation of the orbital Hall effect in a light metal Ti

The orbital Hall effect¹ refers to the generation of electron orbital angular momentum flow transverse to an external electric field. Contrary to the common belief that the orbital angular momentum is quenched in solids, theoretical studies^2,3 predict that the orbital Hall effect can be strong and is a fundamental origin of the spin Hall effect^4-7 in many transition metals. Despite the growing circumstantial evidence^8-11, its direct detection remains elusive. Here we report the magneto-optical observation of the orbital Hall effect in the light metal titanium (Ti). The Kerr rotation by the orbital magnetic moment accumulated at Ti surfaces owing to the orbital Hall current is measured, and the result agrees with theoretical calculations semi-quantitatively and is supported by the orbital torque¹² measurement in Ti-based magnetic heterostructures. This result confirms the orbital Hall effect and indicates that the orbital angular momentum is an important dynamic degree of freedom in solids. Moreover, this calls for renewed studies of the orbital effect on other degrees of freedom such as spin^2,3,13,14, valley^15,16, phonon^17-19 and magnon^20,21 dynamics.

Magnon-phonon hybridization in 2D antiferromagnet MnPSe3

Magnetic excitations in van der Waals (vdW) materials, especially in the two-dimensional (2D) limit, are an exciting research topic from both the fundamental and applied perspectives. Using temperature-dependent, magneto-Raman spectroscopy, we identify the hybridization of two-magnon excitations with two phonons in manganese phosphorus triselenide (MnPSe3), a magnetic vdW material that hosts in-plane antiferromagnetism. Results from first-principles calculations of the phonon and magnon spectra further support our identification. The Raman spectra’s rich temperature dependence through the magnetic transition displays an avoided crossing behavior in the phonons’ frequency and a concurrent decrease in their lifetimes. We construct a model based on the interaction between a discrete level and a continuum that reproduces these observations. Our results imply a strong hybridization between each phonon and a two-magnon continuum. This work demonstrates that the magnon-phonon interactions can be observed directly in Raman scattering and provides deep insight into these interactions in 2D magnetic materials.

Unidirectional Pumping of Phonons by Magnetization Dynamics

We propose a method to control surface phonon transport by weak magnetic fields based on the pumping of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) by magnetostriction. We predict that the magnetization dynamics of a nanowire on top of a dielectric films injects SAWs with opposite angular momenta into opposite directions. Two parallel nanowires form a phononic cavity that at magnetic resonances pump a unidirectional SAW current into half of the substrate.