Generation of spin currents by a temperature gradient in a two-terminal device

Year: 2021

Authors: Barfknecht R.E., Foerster A., Zinner N.T., Volosniev A.G.

Autors Affiliation: CNR, INO CNR, Ist Nazl Ott, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; European Lab Nonlinear Spect, LENS, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Inst Fis, Av Bento Goncalves 9500, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Aarhus Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Ny Munkegade 120, Aarhus, Denmark; Aarhus Univ, Aarhus Inst Adv Studies, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark; IST Austria, Campus 1, A-3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria.

Abstract: Theoretical and experimental studies of the interaction between spins and temperature are vital for the development of spin caloritronics, as they dictate the design of future devices. In this work, we propose a two-terminal cold-atom simulator to study that interaction. The proposed quantum simulator consists of strongly interacting atoms that occupy two temperature reservoirs connected by a one-dimensional link. First, we argue that the dynamics in the link can be described using an inhomogeneous Heisenberg spin chain whose couplings are defined by the local temperature. Second, we show the existence of a spin current in a system with a temperature difference by studying the dynamics that follows the spin-flip of an atom in the link. A temperature gradient accelerates the impurity in one direction more than in the other, leading to an overall spin current similar to the spin Seebeck effect. Spin caloritronics exploits the effect of temperature on spin currents with a focus on features such as spin dependent thermal conductance, which are ideally suited for next generation spintronic devices. Here, the authors theoretically investigate a cold atom simulator of spin caloritronics comprising a one-dimensional spin chain between two temperature reservoirs and consider the dynamics of a spin impurity (spin flip) introduced into the chain.

Journal/Review: COMMUNICATIONS PHYSICS

Volume: 4 (1)      Pages from: 252-1  to: 252-9

More Information: The authors acknowledge support from the European QuantERA ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies (Project QTFLAG Grant Agreement No. 731473) (R.E.B), CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico) Brazil (A.F.), the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 754411 (A.G.V.), the Independent Research Fund Denmark, the Carlsberg Foundation, and Aarhus University Research Foundation under the Jens Christian Skou fellowship program (N.T.Z).
KeyWords: transport; gas; conductance; fermions; systems
DOI: 10.1038/s42005-021-00753-7

Citations: 6
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