Spin Hall magnetoresistance in antiferromagnet/normal metal bilayers

Abstract

We predict the emergence of spin Hall magnetoresistance in a magnetic bilayer composed of a normal metal adjacent to an antiferromagnet. Based on a recently derived drift-diffusion equation, we show that the resistance of the bilayer depends on the relative angle between the direction transverse to the current flow and the N\'eel order parameter. Although this effect presents striking similarities with the spin Hall magnetoresistance recently reported in ferromagnetic bilayers, in the present case its physical origin is attributed to the anisotropic spin relaxation of itinerant spins in the antiferromagnet.