Picosecond Spin Seebeck Effect

Phys Rev Lett. 2017 Feb 3;118(5):057201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.057201. Epub 2017 Feb 1.

Abstract

We report time-resolved magneto-optic Kerr effect measurements of the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect in normal metal/Y_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12} bilayers driven by an interfacial temperature difference between electrons and magnons. The measured time evolution of spin accumulation induced by laser excitation indicates transfer of angular momentum across normal metal/Y_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12} interfaces on a picosecond time scale, too short for contributions from a bulk temperature gradient in an yttrium iron garnet. The product of spin-mixing conductance and the interfacial spin Seebeck coefficient determined is of the order of 10^{8} A m^{-2} K^{-1}.