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Our group has a long-standing interest in the thermal generation of pure spin currents, and more generally in thermal effects on nanomagnetic systems and materials.  These areas are part of the recent and growing field of spin caloritronics, which explores the coupling of heat, charge, and spin degrees of freedom in materials and nanoscale structures.

Our most recent work focuses on thermal effects and thermal spin generation in nanoscale metallic non-local spin valves.  These devices, which we fabricate in our lab using electron-beam lithography, allow manipulation and study of pure spin currents in metal nanowires and other materials.  An example is shown below, and more details are available in our recent papers.

NLSV

a) Schematic layout of the NLSV under electrical spin injection, where a large charge current driven through a FM nanowire creates a spin accumulation and pure spin current in a NM channel that is detected with a second FM.  b) The non-local resistance RNLSV=VNLE//I for a L=900 nm device at 78 K, where the relative alignments of the two FM contacts are indicated with paired arrows.
 c) Thermal spin injection is achieved by passing current I only through FM1, creating a thermal gradient at the NM/FM interface that injects spin into the NM. d) False-color SEM micrograph of the nanoscale circuit defining the NLSV.