Role of Two-Dimensional Ising Superconductivity in the Nonequilibrium Quasiparticle Spin-to-Charge Conversion Efficiency

ACS Nano. 2021 Oct 26;15(10):16819-16827. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.1c07192. Epub 2021 Oct 1.

Abstract

Nonequilibrium studies of two-dimensional (2D) superconductors (SCs) with Ising spin-orbit coupling are prerequisite for their successful application to equilibrium spin-triplet Cooper pairs and, potentially, Majorana Fermions. By taking advantage of the recent discoveries of 2D SCs and their compatibility with any other materials, we fabricate here nonlocal magnon devices to examine how such 2D Ising superconductivity affects the conversion efficiency of magnon spin to quasiparticle charge in superconducting flakes of 2H-NbSe2 transferred onto ferrimagnetic insulating Y3Fe5O12. Comparison with a reference device based on a conventionally paired superconductor shows that the Y3Fe5O12-induced in-plane (IP) exchange spin-splitting in the NbSe2 flake is hindered by its inherent out-of-plane (OOP) spin-orbit field, which, in turn, limits the transition-state enhancement of the spin-to-charge conversion efficiency. Our out-of-equilibrium study highlights the significance of symmetry matching between underlying Cooper pairs and exchange-induced spin-splitting for the giant transition-state spin-to-charge conversion and may have implications toward proximity-engineered spin-polarized triplet pairing via tuning the relative strength of IP exchange and OOP spin-orbit fields in ferromagnetic insulator/2D Ising SC bilayers.

Keywords: 2D superconductor; IP exchange spin-splitting versus OOP spin−orbit fields; Ising Cooper pairing; magnon spin transport; nonequilibrium quasiparticle spin-to-charge conversion.