Heat and spin transport in magnetic nanowires

Transport measurements are carried out in which temperature oscillation is applied to magnetic nanostructures. Using spin valves, this measurement reveals aspects of the spin transport in non-collinear configurations. In one implementation, an AC voltage is detected when a DC current is driven through the nanostructure under test and its temperature is made to oscillate by illuminating it with a laser diode. A simpler approach is presented that relies on Joule heating to generate the temperature oscillation, thus eliminating the need for any optical component. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.