Spin transport and spin-to-charge current conversion in polyaniline by means of spin Seebeck experiments

We report an investigation of the transport of a pure spin current across a thin layer of organic conductor polyaniline (PANI) sandwiched between a film of the ferrimagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and a thin layer of platinum. The spin current, generated by spin Seebeck effect of the YIG film, is injected through the YIG/ PANI interface, crosses the whole PANI layer and is injected into the Pt layer, where it is converted into a charge current by means of the inverse spin Hall effect and electrically detected as a DC voltage. We also present revealing results of experimental detection of the spin-to-charge current interconversion measured directly on the PANI layer in which we were able obtain the spin Hall angle theta(SH) = (1.70 +/- 0.06) x 10(-5) showing that this organic conductor presents a great potential in spintronics devices.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that a pure spin current injected through the YIG/PANI interface can traverse the entire PANI layer and be converted into a charge current, revealing great potential for organic conductor polyaniline in spintronics devices.