Direct detection of magnon spin transport by the inverse spin Hall effect

Conversion of traveling magnons into an electron carried spin current is demonstrated in a time resolved experiment using a spatially separated inductive spin-wave source and an inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) detector. A spin-wave packet is excited in a yttrium-iron garnet waveguide by a microwave signal and is detected 3mm apart by an attached platinum layer as a delayed ISHE voltage pulse. The delay appears due to the finite spin-wave group velocity and proves the magnon spin transport. The experiment suggests the utilization of spin waves for the information transfer over macroscopic distances in spintronic devices and circuits. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3689787]