Interface morphology effect on the spin mixing conductance of Pt/Fe ₃O ₄ bilayers

Abstract

Non-magnetic (NM) metals with strong spin-orbit coupling have been recently explored as a probe of interface magnetism on ferromagnetic insulators (FMI) by means of the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) effect. In NM/FMI heterostructures, increasing the spin mixing conductance (SMC) at the interface comes as an important step towards devices with maximized SMR. Here we report on the study of SMR in Pt/Fe ₃O ₄ bilayers at cryogenic temperature, and identify a strong dependence of the determined real part of the complex SMC on the interface roughness. We tune the roughness of the Pt/Fe ₃O ₄ interface by controlling the growth conditions of the Fe ₃O ₄ films, namely by varying the thickness, growth technique, and post-annealing processes. Field-dependent and angular-dependent magnetoresistance measurements sustain the clear observation of SMR. The determined real part of the complex SMC of the Pt/Fe ₃O ₄ bilayers ranges from 4.96 × 10 ¹⁴ Ω ⁻¹ m ⁻² to 7.16 × 10 ¹⁴ Ω ⁻¹ m ⁻² and increases with the roughness of the Fe ₃O ₄ underlayer. We demonstrate experimentally that the interface morphology, acting as an effective interlayer potential, leads to an enhancement of the spin mixing conductance.