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