arXiv · 1806.07906
Nonlocal Spin Transport Mediated by a Vortex Liquid in Superconductors
Abstract
Departing from the conventional view on superconducting vortices as a parasitic source of dissipation for charge transport, we propose to use mobile vortices as topologically-stable information carriers for spin transport. To this end, we start by constructing a phenomenological theory for the interconversion between spin and vorticity, a topological charge carried by vortices, at the interface between a magnetic insulator and a superconductor, by invoking the interfacial spin Hall effect therein. We then show that a vortex liquid in superconductors can serve as a spin-transport channel between two magnetic insulators by encoding spin information in the vorticity. The vortex-mediated nonlocal signal between the two magnetic insulators is shown to decay algebraically as a function of their separation, contrasting with the exponential decay of the quasiparticle-mediated spin transport. We envision that hydrodynamics of topological excitations, such as vortices in superconductors and domain walls in magnets, may serve as a universal framework to discuss long-range transport properties of ordered materials.
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Se Kwon Kim, Roberto Myers, Yaroslav Tserkovnyak. 2018-06-20. Nonlocal Spin Transport Mediated by a Vortex Liquid in Superconductors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.121.187203
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