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Observation of Magnon Polarization

Y. Nambu, J. Barker, Y. Okino, T. Kikkawa, Y. Shiomi, M. Enderle, T. Weber, B. Winn, M. Graves-Brook, J. M. Tranquada, T. Ziman, M. Fujita, G. E. W. Bauer, E. Saitoh, and K. Kakurai
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 027201 – Published 6 July 2020
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Abstract

We measure the mode-resolved direction of the precessional motion of the magnetic order, i.e., magnon polarization, via the chiral term of inelastic polarized neutron scattering spectra. The magnon polarization is a unique and unambiguous signature of magnets and is important in spintronics, affecting thermodynamic properties such as the magnitude and sign of the spin Seebeck effect. However, it has never been directly measured in any material until this work. The observation of both signs of magnon polarization in Y3Fe5O12 also gives direct proof of its ferrimagnetic nature. The experiments agree very well with atomistic simulations of the scattering cross section.

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  • Received 26 November 2019
  • Accepted 5 June 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.027201

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Y. Nambu1,*, J. Barker1,2, Y. Okino1, T. Kikkawa1,3, Y. Shiomi1, M. Enderle4, T. Weber4, B. Winn5, M. Graves-Brook5, J. M. Tranquada6, T. Ziman4,7, M. Fujita1, G. E. W. Bauer1,3,8, E. Saitoh1,3,9,10, and K. Kakurai11,12,13

  • 1Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • 2School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
  • 3WPI-AIMR, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • 4Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), 38042 Grenoble, France
  • 5Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL), Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
  • 6Brookhaven National Lab (BNL), Upton, New York 11973-5000, USA
  • 7Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, LPMMC, 38000 Grenoble, France
  • 8Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands
  • 9Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
  • 10Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai 319-1195, Japan
  • 11Neutron Science and Technology Center, Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS), Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan
  • 12RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 13Materials Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai 319-1195, Japan

  • *nambu@tohoku.ac.jp

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Issue

Vol. 125, Iss. 2 — 10 July 2020

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