Electric field control of magnon spin currents in an antiferromagnetic insulator

Liu, Changjiang; Luo, Yongming; Hong, Deshun; Zhang, Steven S.-L.; Saglam, Hilal; Li, Yi; Lin, Yulin; Fisher, Brandon; Pearson, John E.; Jiang, J. Samuel; Zhou, Hua; Wen, Jianguo; Hoffmann, Axel; Bhattacharya, Anand

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg1669

Electric field control of magnon spin currents in an antiferromagnetic insulator

Journal Article · Wed Sep 29 04:00:00 EDT 2021 · Science Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg1669· OSTI ID:1840023

^[1]; ^[2]; Hong, Deshun ^[1]; ^[3]; Saglam, Hilal ^[1]; ^[1]; Lin, Yulin ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[4]; ^[1]; ^[5]; ^[1]

Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (China)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

Pure spin currents can be generated via thermal excitations of magnons. These magnon spin currents serve as carriers of information in insulating materials, and controlling them using electrical means may enable energy efficient information processing. Here, we demonstrate electric field control of magnon spin currents in the antiferromagnetic insulator Cr₂O₃. We show that the thermally driven magnon spin currents reveal a spin-flop transition in thin-film Cr₂O₃. Crucially, this spin-flop can be turned on or off by applying an electric field across the thickness of the film. Using this tunability, we demonstrate electric field–induced switching of the polarization of magnon spin currents by varying only a gate voltage while at a fixed magnetic field. We propose a model considering an electric field–dependent spin-flop transition, arising from a change in sublattice magnetizations via a magnetoelectric coupling. These results provide a different approach toward controlling magnon spin current in antiferromagnets.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division; Case Western Reserve University; National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1840023

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Journal Name: Science Advances Journal Issue: 40 Vol. 7; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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