A large enhancement in the spin–orbit coupling of graphene has been predicted when interfacing it with semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides. Signatures of such an enhancement have been reported, but the nature of the spin relaxation in these systems remains unknown. Here, we unambiguously demonstrate anisotropic spin dynamics in bilayer heterostructures comprising graphene and tungsten or molybdenum disulphide (WS₂, MoS₂). We observe that the spin lifetime varies over one order of magnitude depending on the spin orientation, being largest when the spins point out of the graphene plane. This indicates that the strong spin–valley coupling in the transition metal dichalcogenide is imprinted in the bilayer and felt by the propagating spins. These findings provide a rich platform to explore coupled spin–valley phenomena and offer novel spin manipulation strategies based on spin relaxation anisotropy in two-dimensional materials.

We determine the spin-lifetime anisotropy of spin-polarized carriers in graphene. In contrast to prior approaches, our method does not require large out-of-plane magnetic fields and thus it is reliable for both low- and high-carrier densities. We first determine the in-plane spin lifetime by conventional spin precession measurements with magnetic fields perpendicular to the graphene plane. Then, to evaluate the out-of-plane spin lifetime, we implement spin precession measurements under oblique magnetic fields that generate an out-of-plane spin population. We find that the spin-lifetime anisotropy of graphene on silicon oxide is independent of carrier density and temperature down to 150 K, and much weaker than previously reported. Indeed, within the experimental uncertainty, the spin relaxation is isotropic. Altogether with the gate dependence of the spin lifetime, this indicates that the spin relaxation is driven by magnetic impurities or random spin-orbit or gauge fields.

The microwave emission linewidth of spin transfer torque nano-oscillators is closely related to their phase and amplitude noise that can be extracted from the magnetoresistive voltage signal $V\left(t\right)$ using single shot time domain techniques. Here we report on phase and amplitude noise studies for MgO based magnetic tunnel junction oscillators. The analysis of the power spectral densities allows one to separate the linear and nonlinear contributions to the phase noise, the nonlinear contribution being due to the coupling between phase and amplitude. The coupling strength as well as the amplitude relaxation rate can be directly extracted.

In recent years, new spin-dependent thermal effects have been discovered in ferromagnets, stimulating a growing interest in spin caloritronics, a field that exploits the interaction between spin and heat currents 1,2 . Amongst the most intriguing phenomena is the spin Seebeck effect 3-5 , in which a thermal gradient gives rise to spin currents that are detected through the inverse spin Hall effect 6-8 . Non-magnetic materials such as graphene are also relevant for spin caloritronics, thanks to efficient spin transport 9-11 , energy-dependent carrier mobility and unique density of states 12,13 . Here, we propose and demonstrate that a carrier thermal gradient in a graphene lateral spin valve can lead to a large increase of the spin voltage near to the graphene charge neutrality point. Such an increase results from a thermoelectric spin voltage, which is analogous to the voltage in a thermocouple and that can be enhanced by the presence of hot carriers generated by an applied current 14-17 . These results could prove crucial to drive graphene spintronic devices and, in particular, to sustain pure spin signals with thermal gradients and to tune the remote spin accumulation by varying the spin-injection bias.

We report on linear spin dynamics in the vortex state of Permalloy cylindrical dots subjected to an in-plane bias magnetic field. We demonstrate experimentally by a broadband ferromagnetic resonance technique and by simulations that breaking the cylindrical symmetry of the magnetic vortex gradually changes and suppresses the azimuthal spin eigenmodes below the vortex nucleation field and leads further to the appearance of new eigenmodes. The parallel microwave field pumping is shown to be a unique tool to observe spin excitation modes localized near the strongly shifted vortex core for the bias field between the vortex nucleation and annihilation fields. Meanwhile, the perpendicular field pumping, which excites the spin waves throughout the entire dot, reveals a crossover between two dynamic vortex regimes near the nucleation field.