First-principles calculations for Gilbert damping constant at finite temperature

We propose a first-principles calculation method for the Gilbert damping constants α at finite temperatures. α is described by the torque correlation model in which the electronic structure is computed by the tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method. We include the finite-temperature effect as the transverse spin fluctuation in the disordered local moment picture within the coherent potential approximation. Applying the present method to bcc-Fe and L10-FePt, we demonstrate these temperature-dependent α. By comparing our calculated results with experimental results, we find the calculated values are less than half of the experimental values, reflecting the characteristics of the torque correlation model.

Study on spin current transmission of Co1-x Tb x films

We investigate the spin to charge conversion phenomena in Y3Fe5O12/Pt/Co1-x Tb x /Pt multilayers by both the spin pumping and spin Seebeck effects. We find that the spin transport efficiency is irrelevant to magnetization states of the perpendicular magnetized Co1-x Tb x films, which can be attributed to the symmetry requirement of the inverse transverse spin Hall effect. Furthermore, the spin transmission efficiency is significantly affected by the film concentration, revealing the dominant role of extrinsic impurity scattering caused by Tb impurity. The present results provide further guidance for enhancing the spin transport efficiency and developing spintronics devices.

Effective modulation of spin accumulation using a ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic bilayer spin channel

A lateral spin valve consisting of highly spin-polarized CoFeAl electrodes with a CoFeAl/Cu bilayer spin channel has been developed. Despite a large spin absorption into the CoFeAl capping channel layer, an efficient spin injection and detection using the CoFeAl electrodes enable us to observe a clear spin valve signal. We demonstrate that the nonlocal spin accumulation signal is significantly modulated depending on the relative angle of the magnetizations between the spin injector and absorber. The observed modulation phenomena is explained by the longitudinal and transverse spin absorption effects into the CoFeAl channel layer with the spin resistance model.

Spin photonics: from transverse spin to photonic skyrmions

Spin angular momentum associated with circular polarization is a fundamental and important aspect of photons both in classical and quantum optics. The interaction of this optical spin with matter and structures results in many intriguing optical effects and state-of-the-art applications covered under the emerging subject of spin optics. Distinct from longitudinal optical spin along the mean wavevector, transverse spin, the corresponding vector of which is perpendicular to the mean wavevector, prevails and plays a significant role in confined electromagnetic waves such as focused beams, guided waves, and evanescent waves. In the optical near-field, these transverse spins are generated owing to the spatial variation of the kinetic momentum of confined electromagnetic waves, where the spin and orbital angular momenta are strongly coupled, leading to many interesting topological spin structures and properties. Several reviews on optical transverse spins have been published in recent years in which their concepts and the various configurations producing them were introduced systematically. Here, we introduce in this review the underlying physics and dynamics of transverse spin and the resultant topological structures and properties such as the photonic skyrmions and merons. We term this sub-area ‘spin photonics’, its scope being to cover the design and research of spin structures in strongly confined electromagnetic fields with unique properties and applications. The concepts and framework reviewed have importance in optics, topological photonics, metrology, and quantum technologies and may be used to extend spin-dynamics concepts to fluidic, acoustic, and gravitational waves.