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Evaluation of spin mixing conductance in bilayer and the effect of ultrathin Cu, Ni, Ru, Ta, or Cr insertion layers
Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 054414 – Published 20 May, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/b5xh-ypg7
Abstract
Improving the spin mixing conductance at the ferromagnet/heavy metal (FM/HM) interface with a low Gilbert damping constant in the FM layer is a key requirement for developing efficient spintronic devices. To evaluate the potential of as the FM layers in such structures, epitaxial single-layer and bilayer films were deposited on MgO substrates using magnetron sputtering, and their Gilbert damping constants were evaluated from ferromagnetic resonance spectra. While the single-layer samples exhibit a low damping constant of , an enhancement in the damping constant was observed in the bilayer samples due to spin pumping across the interface, from which relatively large spin mixing conductance () of was evaluated. Further, to investigate the effect of interface property on , ultrathin ( nm) Cu, Ni, Ru, Ta, or Cr insertion layers were introduced between the and Pt. Inserting a nonmagnetic (NM) Cu layer results in a pronounced decrease of , whereas the FM Ni layer leaves nearly unchanged. In the case of Ru and Ta insertion layers, a modest reduction in is observed despite their NM nature. The antiferromagnetic Cr insertion layer also causes a small decrease in . The observed change in depends on the insertion material, indicating that their physical properties, such as magnetic, nonmagnetic, antiferromagnetic, light or heavy metal, reflect on .
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