Experimental investigation of the effect of topological insulator on the magnetization dynamics of ferromagnetic metal: $BiSbTe_{1.5}Se_{1.5}$ and $Ni_{80}Fe_{20}$ heterostructure

• Main Authors: Pal, Sayani, Aon, Soumik, Manna, Subhadip, Nath, Sambhu G, Sharma, Kanav, Mitra, Chiranjib
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 13-03-2023
• Subjects: Physics - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2303.07025

We have studied ferromagnetic metal/topological insulator bilayer system to
understand magnetization dynamics of ferromagnetic metal (FM) in contact with a
topological insulator (TI). At magnetic resonance condition, the precessing
magnetization in the metallic ferromagnet ($Ni_{80}Fe_{20}$) injects spin
current into the topological insulator ($BiSbTe_{1.5}Se_{1.5}$), a phenomenon
known as spin-pumping. Due to the spin pumping effect, fast relaxation in the
ferromagnet results in the broadening of ferromagnetic resonance linewidth
($\Delta H$). We evaluated the parameters like effective Gilbert damping
coefficient ($\alpha_{eff}$), spin-mixing conductance ($g_{eff}^{\uparrow
\downarrow}$) and spin current density ($j_S^0$) to confirm a successful spin
injection due to spin-pumping into the $BiSbTe_{1.5}Se_{1.5}$ layer. TIs embody
a spin-momentum locked surface state that span the bulk band-gap. It can act
differently to the FM magnetization than the other normal metals. To probe the
effect of topological surface state, a systematic low temperature study is
crucial as surface state of TI dominates at lower temperatures. The exponential
growth of $\Delta H$ for all different thickness combination of FM/TI bilayers
and effective Gilbert damping coefficient ($\alpha_{eff}$) with lowering
temperature confirms the prediction that spin chemical bias generated from
spin-pumping induces surface current in TI due to spin-momentum locking. The
hump-like feature of magnetic anisotropy field ($H_K$)of the bilayer around 60K
suggests that the decrease of interfacial in-plane magnetic anisotropy can
result from exchange coupling between the TI surface state and the local
moments of FM layer.