Unraveling the influence of electronic and magnonic spin-current injection near the magnetic ordering transition of IrMn metallic antiferromagnets

Abstract

Although spin injection at room temperature in an IrMn metallic antiferromagnet strongly depends on the transport regime, and is more efficient in the case of magnonic transport, in this article, we present experimental data demonstrating that the enhanced efficiency of spin injection caused by spin fluctuations near the ordering temperature can be as efficient for the electronic and magnonic transport regimes. By selecting representative interacting environments, we also demonstrated that the amplification of spin injection near the ordering temperature of the IrMn antiferromagnet is independent of exchange coupling with an adjacent NiFe ferromagnet. In addition, our findings confirm that the spin current carried by magnons penetrates deeper than that transported by conduction electrons in IrMn. Finally, our data indicates that the value of the ordering temperature for the IrMn antiferromagnet is not significantly affected by either the electronic or magnonic nature of the spin-current probe, or by exchange coupling.