Giant magnon spin conductivity approaching the two-dimensional transport regime in ultrathin yttrium iron garnet films

Conductivities are key material parameters that govern various types of transport (electronic charge, spin, heat etc.) driven by thermodynamic forces. Magnons, the elementary excitations of the magnetic order, flow under the gradient of a magnon chemical potential in proportion to a magnon (spin) conductivity σm. The magnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) is the material of choice for efficient magnon spin transport. Here we report an unexpected giant σm in record-thin YIG films with thicknesses down to 3.7 nm when the number of occupied two-dimensional (2D) subbands is reduced from a large number to a few, which corresponds to a transition from 3D to 2D magnon transport. We extract a 2D spin conductivity (≈1 S) at room temperature, comparable to the (electronic) spin conductivity of the high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs quantum wells at millikelvin temperatures. Such high conductivities offer unique opportunities to develop low-dissipation magnon-based spintronic devices.

Comparison of Precursor Preparation Routes on Final Density of Y3Fe5O12 Garnets Prepared via Reactive Sintering

Yttrium iron garnet was obtained using four methods of synthesis. A modified citrate method and a modified citrate method with YIG (yttrium iron garnet, Y3Fe5O12) nucleation were used. In two subsequent methods, YIP (yttrium iron perovskite, YFeO3) and α-Fe2O3 obtained in the first case by the citrate method and in the second by precipitation of precursors with an ammonia solution were used as the input precursors for reaction sintering. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements of the output powders obtained by all methods allowed to identify the effects observed during the temperature increase. Dilatometric measurements allowed to determine the changes in linear dimensions at individual stages of reaction sintering. In the case of materials obtained by the citrate method, two effects occur with the increasing temperature, the first of which corresponds to the reaction of the formation of yttrium iron perovskite (YIP), and the second is responsible for the reaction of the garnet (YIG) formation. However, in the case of heat treatment of the mixture of YIP and α-Fe2O3, we observe only the effect responsible for the solid state reaction leading to the formation of yttrium iron garnet. The obtained materials were reaction sintered at temperatures of 1300 and 1400 °C. Only in the case of material obtained from a mixture of perovskite and iron(III) oxide obtained by ammonia precipitation at temperature of 1400 °C were densities achieved higher than 98% of the theoretical density. The use of Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) in the case of this material allowed to eliminate the remaining porosity and to obtain full density.