Control and Local Measurement of the Spin Chemical Potential in a Magnetic Insulator

ORAL

Abstract

In recent decades, a large scientific effort has focused on harnessing spin transport for providing insights into novel materials and low-dissipation information processing. We introduce single spin magnetometry based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond as a new and generic platform to locally probe spin chemical potential which essentially determines the flow of spin currents. We use this platform to investigate magnons in a magnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) on a 100 nanometer length scale. We demonstrate that the local magnon chemical potential can be systematically controlled through both ferromagnetic resonance and electrical spin excitations, which agrees well with the theoretical analysis of the underlying multi-magnon processes. Our results open up new possibilities for nanoscale imaging and manipulation of spin-related phenomena in condensed matter systems.

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Authors

  • Chunhui Du

    • Department of Physics, Harvard University

  • Toeno van der Sar

    • Harvard University
    • Department of Physics, Harvard University

  • Tony Zhou

    • Harvard University
    • Harvard University, Cambridge USA.
    • Department of Physics, Harvard University

  • Pramey Upadhyaya

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles

  • Francesco Casola

    • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Department of Physics, Harvard University
    • Harvard University
    • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

  • Huiliang Zhang

    • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

  • Mehmet Onbasli

    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Caroline Ross

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Ronald Walsworth

    • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Department of Physics, Harvard University
    • Harvard University, Cambridge USA.
    • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

  • Yaroslav Tserkovnyak

    • Univ of California - Los Angeles
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles

  • A. Yacoby

    • Harvard University
    • Harvard University, Cambridge USA.
    • Department of Physics, Harvard University
    • Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138
    • Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138