Spin transport and spin dynamics in antiferromagnets

Ferromagnets (FMs) have been a key ingredient in information technology because it is easy to manipulate and read out the magnetization. Antiferromagnets (AFMs) have magnetic moments with alternating direction resulting in negligible magnetization. This gives them high processing and device downscaling features, but this also makes it challenging to manipulate and interact with the AFM order.

This thesis studies this interaction with antiferromagnets. NiO AFM order has been read out by electrically injecting spin current via the spin Hall effect in thin heavy metal films. In DyFeO3, both Dy and Fe magnetic moments, their excitation and interaction have been probed. A magnetic field lifts the degeneracy of magnetic excitations with opposite magnon spin, allowing a spin current to be detected nonlocally. The AFM order and the generation of spin current can easily be controlled by an adjacent FM. Thereby, we show that AFMs have the potential to play an active role in spintronics.