Physics Colloquium: Theory of the spin wave Seebeck effect in magnetic insulators

Geneva University
Physics Department

24, quai Ernest-Ansermet
CH-1211 Geneva 4

Lundi 28 février 2011

17h00 - École de Physique, Auditoire Stückelberg

Theory of the spin wave Seebeck effect in magnetic insulators
Prof. Gerrit Bauer
Delft University of Technology

The subfield of spin caloritronics addresses the coupling of heat, charge and spin currents in nanostructures. In the center of interest is here the spin Seebeck effect, which was discovered in an iron-nickel alloy. Uchida et al. recently observed the effect also in an electrically insulating Yttrium Iron Garnett (YIG) thin magnetic film. To our knowledge this is the first observation of a Seebeck effect generated by an insulator, implying that the physics is fundamentally different from the conventional Seebeck effect in metals. We explain the experiments by the pumping of a spin current into the detecting contacts by the thermally excited magnetization dynamics. In this talk I will give a brief overview over the state of the art in spin caloritronics and describe the theoretical developments to understand the spin (wave) Seebeck effect. The reported results have been obtained in collaboration with J. Xiao, K. Xia, K. Uchida, E. Saitoh, and S. Maekawa and support by the Dutch FOM foundation.

Une verrée en compagnie du conférencier sera offerte après le colloque.
Prof. Markus Büttiker

 

by Université de Genève