Thermoelectric spin diffusion in a ferromagnetic metal

TL;DR

This paper develops a semiclassical theory describing how temperature gradients induce spin diffusion and currents in ferromagnetic metals, highlighting the roles of spin-flip scattering and spin-polarized density of states.

Contribution

It introduces a novel semiclassical framework for thermally driven spin diffusion in ferromagnetic metals, accounting for spin-flip scattering effects.

Findings

Spin-flip scattering generates pure thermal spin currents.

Thermally induced spin density depends on spin polarization of the density of states.

Temperature gradients can suppress or enhance spin accumulations.

Abstract

We present a semiclassical theory of spin-diffusion in a ferromagnetic metal subject to a temperature gradient. Spin-flip scattering can generate pure thermal spin currents by short-circuiting spin channels while suppressing spin accumulations. A thermally induced spin density is locally generated when the energy dependence of the density of states is spin polarized.