Interface morphology effect on the spin mixing conductance of Pt/FeO bilayers.

Non-magnetic (NM) metals with strong spin-orbit coupling have been recently explored as a probe of interface magnetism on ferromagnetic insulators (FMI) by means of the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) effect. In NM/FMI heterostructures, increasing the spin mixing conductance (SMC) at the interface comes as an important step towards devices with maximized SMR. Here we report on the study of SMR in Pt/FeO bilayers at cryogenic temperature, and identify a strong dependence of the determined real part of the complex SMC on the interface roughness. We tune the roughness of the Pt/FeO interface by controlling the growth conditions of the FeO films, namely by varying the thickness, growth technique, and post-annealing processes. Field-dependent and angular-dependent magnetoresistance measurements sustain the clear observation of SMR. The determined real part of the complex SMC of the Pt/FeO bilayers ranges from 4.96 × 10 Ω m to 7.16 × 10 Ω m and increases with the roughness of the FeO underlayer. We demonstrate experimentally that the interface morphology, acting as an effective interlayer potential, leads to an enhancement of the spin mixing conductance.