Magnon-mediated electric current drag and nonlocal spin-Peltier effect in the ac regime

Abstract

Electron-magnon coupling at the interface between a normal metal and a magnetically ordered insulator modifies the electrical conductivity of the normal metal, an effect known as spin-Hall magnetoresistance. It can also facilitate magnon-mediated electric current drag, the nonlocal electric current response of two normal metal layers separated by a magnetic insulator. Additionally, spin and heat transport are coupled both in the magnetic insulator and across the interfaces to normal metals. In this article, we present a theory of these spintronic and spin-caloritronic effects for time-dependent applied electric fields 𝐸⁡(𝜔), with driving frequencies 𝜔 up to the terahertz regime. Our model describes how the dominant transport mechanism, coherent or incoherent magnons, evolves with the driving frequency 𝜔.