Abstract
Most studies of spin caloritronic effects to date, including spin-Seebeck effect, utilize thin films on substrates. We use patterned ferromagnetic thin film to demonstrate the profound effect of a substrate on the spin-dependent thermal transport. With different sample patterns and on varying the direction of temperature gradient, both longitudinal and transverse thermal voltages exhibit asymmetric instead of symmetric spin dependence. This unexpected behavior is due to an out-of-plane temperature gradient imposed by the thermal conduction through the substrate and the mixture of anomalous Nernst effects. Only with substrate-free samples have we determined the intrinsic spin-dependent thermal transport with characteristics and field sensitivity similar to those of the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect.
- Received 9 August 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.216604
© 2011 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Thermal Spintronics on a Firm Footing
Published 17 November 2011
The substrate turns out to have a significant effect on thermally driven spin transport in thin films.
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