Electrical detection of interfacial exchange field at the (ferromagnetic insulator) | (normal metal) interface using spin-dependent scattering

The spin-orbit field and interfacial exchange field (IEF) are two major interface phenomena, and the detection and manipulation of these fields can enable a variety of nanoscale spintronics devices. Optimizing the IEF, which governs the spin-dependent scattering asymmetry at (ferromagnetic insulator)|(normal metal) interfaces, will pave the way for next-generation nanoscale, low-power insulator spintronics devices. Here, we demonstrate an experimental pathway to detect an IEF between insulating ferromagnet EuS and non-magnetic Cu using magnetoresistance (MR) measurements, and show that the spin-dependent scattering at the common interface can lead to a significant current-in-plane MR in Py | Cu | EuS trilayer Hall-bar device. Our experiment suggests that simple magnetoresistance measurements can be used to experimentally detect the IEF and thereby the magnetic state of a ferromagnetic insulator.