Microscopic origin of the spin Seebeck effect · revision history

Revision 2

Accepted · core change · record

Changes against revision 1:

Title
Microscopic origin of the spin Seebeck effect
Plain
A temperature difference across a magnetic insulator like yttrium iron garnet drives a spin current into an attached platinum strip, where it appears as a voltage. Which spin waves carry this current, and how lattice vibrations help, is not settled.
Precise · changed · core
Revision 1: In YIG/Pt the longitudinal spin Seebeck voltage depends on YIG thickness (saturating over lengths of order 1e-4 cm), magnetic field (suppressed at high field), and temperature, with anomalies where magnons and phonons hybridize (magnon polarons, 2016). Determine the roles of bulk thermal-magnon accumulation, the interfacial magnon-electron temperature difference, and magnon-phonon coupling, and predict the voltage versus thickness, T and field. An answer is one quantitative model reproducing all three dependences.
Revision 2: In YIG/Pt the longitudinal spin Seebeck voltage depends on YIG thickness (saturating over lengths of order $10^{-4}$ cm), magnetic field (suppressed at high field), and temperature, with anomalies where magnons and phonons hybridize (magnon polarons, 2016). Determine the roles of bulk thermal-magnon accumulation, the interfacial magnon-electron temperature difference, and magnon-phonon coupling, and predict the voltage versus thickness, T and field. An answer is one quantitative model reproducing all three dependences.
Settled by
A parameter-free model using measured magnon and phonon spectra that reproduces the thickness, field and temperature dependence of the voltage in YIG/Pt.
Kind
phenomenon
Answer type
mechanism
References
(empty)
Literature status
open
Status note
Bulk magnon accumulation models describe the thickness dependence and magnon-polaron anomalies show phonons matter; a unified quantitative account is lacking.
Posed since
2008

Decisions