Spin Superfluidity and Long-Range Transport in Thin-Film Ferromagnets

Abstract

In ferromagnets, magnons may condense into a single quantum state. Analogous to superconductors, this quantum state may support transport without dissipation. Recent works suggest that longitudinal spin transport through a thin-film ferromagnet is an example of spin superfluidity. Although intriguing, this tantalizing picture ignores long-range dipole interactions; here, we demonstrate that such interactions dramatically affect spin transport. In single-film ferromagnets, "spin superfluidity" only exists at length scales (a few hundred nanometers in yttrium iron garnet) somewhat larger than the exchange length. Over longer distances, dipolar interactions destroy spin superfluidity. Nevertheless, we predict the reemergence of spin superfluidity in trilayer ferromagnet-normal metal-ferromagnet films that are ∼1 μm in size. Such systems also exhibit other types of long-range spin transport in samples that are several micrometers in size.