Coexistence of different magnetic ordering in thin films of SrMnO3 studied by spin transport

The ability to tune magnetic ordering in complex oxide based correlated antiferromagnetic insulators, due to the coupling between the charge, spin, lattice, and orbital degrees of freedom, opens a vast playground in spintronics. Here, we study a tensile strain induced coexistence of a wide range of magnetic ordering, as established from the temperature dependence of the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) and spin Seebeck effect (SSE) studies and complemented by structural and bulk magnetization measurements. The temperature dependence of the SMR, SSE, and bulk magnetization studies fingerprints the competition between different magnetic domains across the manganite film thickness. Our work demonstrates that strain induced spatial variation of magnetization in such nominal antiferromagnetic manganite, SrMnO3, can be tuned by orbital ordering and opens research opportunities in antiferromagnetic spintronics.