Inverse Orbital Torque via Spin-Orbital Entangled States

Abstract: While current-induced torque by orbital current has been experimentally found in various structures, evidence for its reciprocity has been missing so far. Here, we report experimental evidence of strong inverse orbital torque in YIG/Pt/CuOx (YIG = Y3Fe5O12) mediated by spin-orbital entangled electronic states in Pt. By injecting spin current from YIG to Pt by the spin pumping via ferromagnetic resonance and by the spin Seebeck effect, we find a pronounced inverse spin Hall effect-like signal. While a part of the signal is explained as due to the inverse spin-orbital Hall effect in Pt, we also find substantial increase of the signal in YIG/Pt/CuOx structures compared to the signal in YIG/Pt. We attribute this to the inverse orbital Rashba-Edelstein effect at Pt/CuOx interface mediated by the spin-orbital entangled states in Pt. Our work paves the way toward understanding of spin-orbital entangled physics in nonequilibrium and provides a way for electrical detection of the orbital current in orbitronic device applications.