High-Throughput Techniques for Measuring the Spin Hall Effect

Abstract

The spin Hall effect in heavy-metal thin films is routinely used to convert charge currents into transverse spin currents and can be used to exert torque on adjacent ferromagnets. Conversely, the inverse spin Hall effect is frequently used to detect spin currents by charge currents in spintronic devices up to the terahertz frequency range. Numerous techniques to measure the spin Hall effect or its inverse have been introduced, most of which require extensive sample preparation by multistep lithography. To enable rapid screening of materials in terms of charge-to-spin conversion, suitable high-throughput methods for measuring the spin Hall angle are required. Here we compare two lithography-free techniques, terahertz emission spectroscopy and broadband ferromagnetic resonance, with standard harmonic Hall measurements and theoretical predictions using the binary-alloy series AuxPt1−x as a benchmark system. Despite their being highly complementary, we find that all three techniques yield a spin Hall angle with approximately the same x dependence, which is also consistent with first-principles calculations. Quantitative discrepancies are discussed in terms of magnetization orientation and interfacial spin-memory loss.