Is MOKE a Viable Method for Probing Spin Hall Effect in Metals?.

ORAL

Abstract

In a recent publication, van`t Erve et al. (Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 172402(2014)) reported observation of the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) from the spin Hall effect (SHE) in beta-tungsten ($\beta $-W) and platinum (Pt) films. This is most interesting, as it would provide an alternative means to probe SHE in metals. However, despite repeated attempts on different samples, we were unable to find a true SHE-induced MOKE signal from $\beta $-W and Pt. Both our theoretical estimate and experimental results indicate that the MOKE signal from SHE in metals ought to be very weak, below the detection limit of currently available MOKE setups. The false MOKE signal observed by van't Erve et al. likely came from the unbalanced ac heating effect.

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Authors

  • Yudan Su

    Department of Physics, Fudan University

  • Hua Wang

    Department of Physics, Fudan University

  • Jie Li

    State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, Department of Physics, Fudan University

  • Chuanshan Tian

    Fudan University, Department of Physics, Fudan University

  • Ruqian Wu

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, Department of Physics, Fudan University, University of California, Irvine

  • Xiaofeng Jin

    Department of Physics, Fudan University

  • Y.R. Shen

    Department of Physics, Fudan University