Comprehensive demonstration of spin Hall Hanle effects in epitaxial Pt thin films
Jing Li, Andrew H. Comstock, Dali Sun, Xiaoshan Xu
Abstract
We demonstrate a nonlinear Hall effect due to the boundary spin accumulation in Pt films grown on ${\mathrm{Al}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ substrates. This Hall effect and the previously demonstrated Hanle magnetoresistance provide a complete picture of the spin-precession control of the spin and charge transport at the boundary of a spin-orbit coupled material, which we refer to as spin Hall Hanle effects (SHHE). We also show that the SHHE can be employed to measure the spin diffusion length, the spin Hall angle, and the spin relaxation time of heavy metal without the need of magnetic interface or the input from other measurements. The comprehensive demonstration of SHHE in such a simple system suggests they may be ubiquitous and needs to be considered for unraveling the spin and charge transport in more complex thin-film structures of spin-orbit coupled materials.