Diffusive magnonic spin transport in antiferromagnetic insulators

Abstract

It has been shown recently that a layer of the antiferromagnetic insulator (AFI) NiO can be used to transport spin current between a ferromagnet (FM) and a nonmagnetic metal (NM). In the experiments one uses the microwave-driven ferromagnetic resonance in a FM layer to produce a spin pumped spin current that flows through an AFI layer and reaches a NM layer where it is converted into a charge current by means of the inverse spin Hall effect. Here we present a theory for the spin transport in an AFI that relies on the spin current carried by the diffusion of thermal antiferromagnetic magnons. The theory explains quite well the measured dependence of the voltage in the NM layer on the thickness of the NiO layer.