Absence of Transport Altermagnetic Spin-Splitting Effect in RuO<sub>2</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41611633.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c05787 and PMC identifier 12947726.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Altermagnets have attracted significant interest recently. Through the altermagnetic spin-splitting effect (ASSE), a longitudinal spin-polarized or a transverse pure spin current can be generated upon charge current injection. The ASSE is a key experimental feature for altermagnets but is often mixed with the spin Hall effect (SHE). Here, we present a comprehensive study of spin-to-charge conversion in epitaxial ruthenium dioxide (RuO<sub>2</sub>) thin films using the ferromagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) as the spin current source. We conclusively show the absence of the ASSE in RuO<sub>2</sub> films grown with three different crystal orientations. Instead, we attribute the spin-to-charge conversion signals solely to the SHE. Moreover, we reveal a negative spin Hall angle in RuO<sub>2</sub> when it is adjacent to YIG, which reverses the sign when interfaced with Py. Our study provides crucial insights into the recent arguments on RuO<sub>2</sub> and advances the understanding of spin-to-charge conversion in low-symmetry materials.