iScience (Mar 2021)
Magnetic charge's relaxation propelled electricity in two-dimensional magnetic honeycomb lattice
Abstract
Summary: Emerging new concepts, such as magnetic charge dynamics in two-dimensional magnetic material, can provide novel mechanism for spin-based electrical transport at macroscopic length. In artificial spin ice of single domain elements, magnetic charge's relaxation can create an efficient electrical pathway for conduction by generating fluctuations in local magnetic field that couple with conduction electron spins. In a first demonstration, we show that the electrical conductivity is propelled by more than an order of magnitude at room temperature due to magnetic charge defects sub-picosecond relaxation in artificial magnetic honeycomb lattice. The direct evidence to the proposed electrical conduction mechanism in two-dimensional frustrated magnet points to the untapped potential for spintronic applications in this system.