Robust spin injection and detection in antiferromagnetic thin films is a prerequisite for the exploration of antiferromagnetic spin dynamics and the development of nanoscale antiferromagnet-based spintronic devices. Existing studies have shown spin injection and detection in antiferromagnet-nonmagnetic metal bilayers; however, spin injection in these systems has been found effective at cryogenic temperatures only. A recent experiment done by Prof. Igor Barsukov at UC-Riverside experimentally demonstrated sizable interfacial spin transport in a hybrid antiferromagnet-ferromagnet system, consisting of Cr₂O₃ and permalloy, which remains robust up to the room temperature. In collaboration with Prof. Igor Barsukov, PI-Cheng well explained the experimental data using a spin diffusion model and find evidence for the important role of interfacial magnon pumping in the signal generation. The experimental results, along with the intuitive theoretical model, bridge spin-orbitronic phenomena of ferromagnetic metals with antiferromagnetic spintronics and demonstrate an advancement toward the realization of room temperature antiferromagnetic spintronics devices.

This article was published in Physical Review Research and is available here.