Spin Soret effect

TL;DR

This paper predicts that a temperature gradient can generate a spin current via thermodynamic principles, linking the spin Seebeck effect to a Soret-like phenomenon in electron transport.

Contribution

It introduces a three-current model showing how temperature gradients induce spin currents, connecting thermodynamics with spin caloritronics.

Findings

Temperature gradients can produce spin currents.

The model links spin Seebeck effect to thermophoresis.

Predicts a Soret-like effect for electron spins.

Abstract

Using a three-current model for heat, spin-up and spin-down electrons, the thermodynamics of irreversible processes predicts that a temperature gradient gives rise to a spin current under the conditions used to measure what is called the spin Seebeck effect. A diffusive current proportional to a gradient of the chemical potential is known in thermochemistry as a Soret effect or thermophoresis.