Spin transport enhancement by controlling the Ag growth in lateral spin valves

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that controlling the growth conditions of silver in lateral spin valves significantly enhances spin transport by increasing the spin diffusion length, primarily through reducing grain boundary effects.

Contribution

It reveals that epitaxial growth of silver can nearly double the spin diffusion length compared to polycrystalline growth, highlighting a method to improve spin transport in metallic nanostructures.

Findings

Spin diffusion length increased from 449 nm to 823 nm with epitaxial growth.

Reducing grain boundary contributions improves spin relaxation.

Growth control is effective for enhancing spin transport.

Abstract

The role of the growth conditions in the spin transport properties of silver (Ag) have been studied by using lateral spin valve structures. By changing the deposition conditions of Ag from polycrystalline to epitaxial growth, we have observed a considerable enhancement of the spin diffusion length, from $\lambda_{Ag}$ = 449 $\pm$ 30 to 823 $\pm$ 59 nm. This study shows that diminishing the grain boundary contribution to the spin relaxation mechanism is an effective way to improve the spin diffusion length in metallic nanostructures.