Spin transfer in high spin-orbit materials
Dr Bryan Hickey
The spin Hall magnetoresistance is the result of a spin current, developed in a high spin orbit material
such as Pt or W, exerting a spin transfer torque on the magnetization of an adjacent material.
Understanding the details of this effect is currently a very active area of research in spintronics.
Theory predicts that the effect only depends on the orientation of the magnetization of the magnetic
layer and that the magnitude of the effect is dominated by the spin Hall angle and the spin-mixing
conductance. In recent measurements that we have made, it turns out that the simple picture will not
explain the observations. It appears that the magnitude of the magnetization is important and that the
temperature dependence although complicated, reveals many new details. This PhD project will
continue the initial work we have completed and in conjunction with our theory collaborators, will
reveal the fundamental properties of these spin effects. We will then be in a position to test the
predictions on how to generate spin amplification and switching.