Cooper-Pair Spin Current in a Strontium Ruthenate Heterostructure

Abstract

It has been recognized that the condensation of spin-triplet Cooper pairs requires not only broken gauge symmetry but also spin ordering as well. One consequence of this is the possibility of a Cooper-pair spin current analogous to the magnon spin current in magnetic insulators, the analogy also extending to the existence of the Gilbert damping of the collective spin-triplet dynamics. The recently fabricated hetero-structure of the thin film of the itinerant ferromagnet SrRuO3 on hulk Sr2RuO4, the best-known candidate material for a spin-triplet superconductor, offers a promising platform for generating such spin current. We show how such heterostructure allows us to not only realize the long-range spin valve but also electrically drive the collective spin mode of the spin-triplet order parameter. Our proposal represents both a novel experimental realization of superfluid spin transport and a transport signature of the spin-triplet superconductivity therein. (c)2018 American Physical Society