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Strong Enhancement of the Spin Hall Effect by Spin Fluctuations near the Curie Point of FexPt1-x Alloys

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

Y. Ou
D.C. Ralph
Robert Buhrman

Abstract

Robust spin Hall effects (SHE) have recently been observed in nonmagnetic heavy metal systems with strong spin-orbit interactions. These SHE are either attributed to an intrinsic band-structure effect or to extrinsic spin-dependent scattering from impurities, namely, side jump or skew scattering. Here we report on an extraordinarily strong spin Hall effect, attributable to spin fluctuations, in ferromagnetic FexPt1-x alloys near their Curie point, tunable with x. This results in a dampinglike spin-orbit torque being exerted on an adjacent ferromagnetic layer that is strongly temperature dependent in this transition region, with a peak value that indicates a lower bound 0.34±0.02 for the peak spin Hall ratio within the FePt. We also observe a pronounced peak in the effective spin-mixing conductance of the FM/FePt interface, and determine the spin diffusion length in these FexPt1-x alloys. These results establish new opportunities for fundamental studies of spin dynamics and transport in ferromagnetic systems with strong spin fluctuations, and a new pathway for efficiently generating strong spin currents for applications. © 2018 American Physical Society.

Date Published

Journal

Physical Review Letters

Volume

120

Issue

9

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85042868698&doi=10.1103%2fPhysRevLett.120.097203&partnerID=40&md5=8966cd4f38b0574f8cc9e4bfa66b9324

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.097203

Funding Source

ECCS-1542081
1542081
DMR-1120296
10.13039/100000006
N000014-15-1-2449

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