Longitudinal spin Seebeck effect; From fundamentals to applications

内田 健一*; 石田 真彦*; 吉川 貴史*; 桐原 明宏*; 村上 朝夫*; 齊藤 英治

Journal of Physics; Condensed Matter, 26(34), p.343202_1 - 343202_15, 2014/08

https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/26/34/343202

The spin Seebeck effect refers to the generation of spin voltage as a result of a temperature gradient in ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic materials. When a conductor is attached to a magnet under a temperature gradient, the thermally generated spin voltage in the magnet injects a spin current into the conductor, which in turn produces electric voltage owing to the spin-orbit interaction. The spin Seebeck effect is of increasing importance in spintronics, since it enables direct generation of a spin current from heat and appears in a variety of magnets ranging from metals and semiconductors to insulators. Recent studies on the spin Seebeck effect have been conducted mainly in paramagnetic metal/ferrimagnetic insulator junction systems in the longitudinal configuration in which a spin current flowing parallel to the temperature gradient is measured. This "longitudinal spin Seebeck effect" (LSSE) has been observed in various sample systems and exclusively established by separating the spin-current contribution from extrinsic artefacts, such as conventional thermoelectric and magnetic proximity effects. The LSSE in insulators also provides a novel and versatile pathway to thermoelectric generation in combination of the inverse spin-Hall effects. In this paper, we review basic experiments on the LSSE and discuss its potential thermoelectric applications with several demonstrations.