Abstract

A model is presented for the control of the magnetic relaxation in a ferromagnetic insulator (FMI) in contact with a normal metal (NM) under a thermal gradient applied across the thickness of the bilayer. We show that the thermal gradient modifies the spin pumping damping created by the contact of the NM with the FMI. This results from the bulk magnon spin current generated through the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect that superimposes to the spin pumping current at the FMI/NM interface, changing the FMI magnetic damping. The results of the model explain the experimental data on the control of the magnetic relaxation by thermal gradients measured by the linewidth of the ferromagnetic resonance absorption and by the attenuation of spin-wave packets propagating along a film of single-crystal yttrium iron garnet covered by a very thin platinum layer. Depending on the sign of the gradient, the relaxation rate can be increased or decreased, leading in the latter case to an apparent amplification.