Spin current propagation through ultra-thin insulating layers in multilayered ferromagnetic systems

Swindells, C.; Hindmarch, A.T.; Gallant, A.J.; Atkinson, D.

doi:10.1063/1.5119787

Spin current propagation through ultra-thin insulating layers in multilayered ferromagnetic systems

Swindells, C.; Hindmarch, A.T.; Gallant, A.J.; Atkinson, D.

Authors

C. Swindells

Dr Aidan Hindmarch a.t.hindmarch@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Professor Andrew Gallant a.j.gallant@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Professor Del Atkinson del.atkinson@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Spin current pumping from a ferromagnet through an insulating layer into a heavy metal was studied in a CoFeB/SiO2/Pt system in relation to the thickness and interfacial structure of the insulating layer. The propagation of spin current from the ferromagnet into the heavy metal falls rapidly with sub-nanometer thicknesses of SiO2 and is suppressed beyond a nominal thickness of 2 nm. Structural analysis shows that SiO2 only forms a complete barrier layer beyond around 2 nm, indicating that the presence of a discontinuous insulating barrier, and not tunneling or diffusion, explains the main observations of spin-pumping with thin insulating layers.

Citation

Swindells, C., Hindmarch, A., Gallant, A., & Atkinson, D. (2020). Spin current propagation through ultra-thin insulating layers in multilayered ferromagnetic systems. Applied Physics Letters, 116(4), Article 042403. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5119787

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 17, 2020
Online Publication Date	Jan 28, 2020
Publication Date	Jan 28, 2020
Deposit Date	Jan 31, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Jan 28, 2021
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Print ISSN	0003-6951
Electronic ISSN	1077-3118
Publisher	American Institute of Physics
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	116
Issue	4
Article Number	042403
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5119787

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Copyright Statement
This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Swindells, C., Hindmarch, A. T., Gallant, A. J. & Atkinson, D. (2020). Spin current propagation through ultra-thin insulating layers in multilayered ferromagnetic systems. Applied Physics Letters 116(4): 042403 and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5119787