Inverse spin Hall effect in nanometer-thick yttrium iron garnet/Pt system

High quality nanometer-thick (20 nm, 7 nm, and 4 nm) epitaxial Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) films have been grown on gadolinium gallium garnet substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The Gilbert damping coefficient for the 20 nm thick films is 2.3 x 10(-4) which is the lowest value reported for sub-micrometric thick films. We demonstrate Inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) detection of propagating spin waves using Pt. The amplitude and the lineshape of the ISHE voltage correlate well to the increase of the Gilbert damping when decreasing thickness of YIG. Spin Hall effect based loss-compensation experiments have been conducted but no change in the magnetization dynamics could be detected. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.