Evanescent Orbital Pumping by Magnetization Dynamics Without Spin-Orbit Coupling

Abstract: Converting magnetization spin to orbital current often relies on strong spin-orbit interaction that may cause additional angular momentum dissipation. We report that coherent magnetization dynamics in magnetic nanostructures can evanescently pump an orbital current into adjacent semiconductors due to the Zeeman coupling between its stray magnetic field and electron orbitals without relying on spin-orbit interaction. The underlying photonic spin of the AC magnetic field governs the orbital polarization that flows along the gradient of the driven field. Due to the orbital texture, the orbital Hall current that flows perpendicularly to the gradient of the AC field is also generated and does not suffer from the orbital torque. These findings extend the paradigm of orbital pumping to include photonic spin and pave the way for developing low-dissipation orbitronic devices.