Simulating the interplay of thermal and magnetic (spin) currents

The spin Seebeck effect is a newly discovered phenomenon that manifests as the generation of a spin current when a magnetic material is subjected to a temperature gradient. For this reason, it is often classed with a larger group of effects under the umbrella term "spin caloritronics", i.e. the interplay of spin and thermal currents. These effects have exciting potential for future electronic devices, in particular in the creation of efficient spin-based devices to harvest wasted energy from heat sources such as engines, boilers and computers.

This project will be working alongside the EPSRC Fellowship -"Reliable, Scalable and Affordable Thermoelectrics: Spin Seebeck Based Devices for Energy Harvesting" - where we are developing new devices and the metrology of the spin Seebeck effect. The objective of this PhD is to develop the theory and new atomistic computational simulations of the interplay between thermal and spin transport in spin Seebeck devices. This will enable a deep understanding of their fundamental physics and to create new structures for the next generation of spin caloritronic devices. The student will work closely with other researchers working on the project to help understand, inform and possibly carry out new experiments on this type of device.