Spin wave propagation and spin polarized electron transport in single crystal iron films

Abstract

The technique of propagating spin wave spectroscopy is applied to a 20 nm thick Fe/MgO (001) film. The magnetic parameters extracted from the position of the resonance peaks are very close to those tabulated for bulk iron. From the propagating waveforms, a group velocity of 4 km/s and an attenuation length of about 6 micrometers are extracted for 1.6 micrometers-wavelength spin-wave at 18 GHz. From the measured current-induced spin-wave Doppler shift, we also extract a surprisingly high degree of spin-polarization of the current of 83%. This set of results makes single-crystalline iron a promising candidate for building devices utilizing high frequency spin-waves and spin-polarized currents.

5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B