Interfacial charge-spin coupling: Injection and detection of spin magnetization in metals

Abstract

The strong inequivalence of spin-up and spin-down subbands in a ferromagnet causes a coupling between the charge and spin transport across the interface of a ferromagnetic and a contiguous paramagnetic metal. This allows the use of sensitive electronic measurements to probe spin transport. Application of small static magnetic fields results in a Hanle effect which permits determination of the spin-relaxation time ${\mathrm{T}}_{2}$. The unique features of the method should make it applicable to a wide range of studies.