Symmetric and anti-symmetric contributions in mixed spin-current effects in a NiO/Pt nanostructure

Spin-currents generated by thermal gradients are efficiently converted into charge-currents by the inverse spin-Hall effect in films of metals presenting strong spin-orbit coupling. The nature of the thermal induced effects depends on the relative orientation among the directions of the spin-current, the applied magnetic field (H), the thermal gradient and the electrical contacts in the metallic film. Mixings in the currents generated by different effects are expected to occur. In this work, the H-dependent anti-symmetric spin-Seebeck effect (SSE) was generated altogether with the symmetric planar Nernst effect in a NiO(100 nm)/Pt(6 nm) nanostructure grown on a 0.5 mm thick Si substrate. A sample holder adapted to a PPMS was used for measuring the voltage in the Pt-film for H in the range ±85 kOe and for temperatures (T) varying from 100 to 300 K. A simple procedure developed for separating the SSE from the planar Nernst effect yielded magnitudes for the SSE in the range ±30 pAcm/K for a temperature different of 10 K across the sample at 300 K. The magnitude of the SSE signal was found to vary with H and T in good agreement with a drift-diffusion magnonic theory.