Transfer Matrix description of heterostructured spintronics Terahertz emission

TL;DR

This paper extends the Transfer Matrix method to include current sources, enabling detailed modeling of THz emission in multilayer spintronics devices and clarifying misconceptions about emission amplitude decay.

Contribution

An extended Transfer Matrix method incorporating current sources for accurate modeling of THz emission in spintronics heterostructures.

Findings

The decay in THz emission amplitude with thicker heavy metal layers is due to parasitic absorption, not spin diffusion length.

The extended TMM accurately models transmission and emission in multilayer spintronics structures.

Misconceptions about the relationship between emission drop rate and spin diffusion length are addressed.

Abstract

In this work we developed an extension to the Transfer Matrix method (TMM) to include a current source term, with the aim of describing both the transmission and emission of THz pulses in spintronics THz emitters. The TMM with source is derived from the Maxwell equations with a volume free current term. This extension to the TMM allows for the study of realistic spintronics THz emitters as multilayers of different materials with different thicknesses. We use this to prove that, in spite of a common misconception, the drop rate of the THz emission amplitude at higher heavy metal layer thicknesses is not related and does not provide information about the spin diffusion length. It is instead the effect of the increase in the parasitic absorption of the generated radiation by the conducting parts of the spintronics THz emitter itself.