Electrical Manipulation of Magnon Diffusion Length in Pt/YIG Three-Terminal Devices.

Kim, Geunwoo; Shiino, Takayuki; Lee, Geun-Hee; Cao Van, Phuoc; Jeong, Jong-Ryul; Lee, Kyung-Jin; Park, Byong-Guk · Nano Lett · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Magnons transport spin angular momentum without involving charge current, offering the potential for energy-efficient spintronic devices. While the generation, manipulation, and detection of magnons, key elements for magnonic devices, have been demonstrated in various systems, electrical control of the magnon diffusion length (λ<sub>m</sub>) has not been reported. In this work, we demonstrate electrical control of λ<sub>m</sub> in three-terminal Pt/YIG devices, where injector-to-detector distance and modulator widths are systematically varied. We observe that λ<sub>m</sub> can be effectively tuned by the modulation current, with strong dependence on the injection current (<i>I</i><sub>inj</sub>). At low <i>I</i><sub>inj</sub>, λ<sub>m</sub> increases from 0.84 to 1.8 μm under a modulation current density of 5.5 × 10<sup>7</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup>. Remarkably, the modulation efficiency improves at higher <i>I</i><sub>inj</sub>, attributed to the overpopulation of subthermal magnons and their increased sensitivity to current-induced spin-orbit torque. Our findings highlight the potential of the electrical manipulation of λ<sub>m</sub>, paving the way for the development of practical magnonic devices.