Vortex-mediated spin current injection into two-dimensional superconductor NbSe2

Abstract

Injection of pure spin current into superconductors remains a major challenge in superconducting spintronics. Previous studies have primarily focused on spin-polarized quasiparticles and spin-triplet supercurrents, while vortices, ubiquitous topological defects in type-2 superconductors, have been theoretically proposed as alternative carriers of spin angular momentum, yet direct experimental evidence is still lacking. Here, we report the vortex-mediated spin current injection in NbSe2/LiAl2Fe3O8(LAFO) bilayer, an Ising superconductor/ferrimagnetic insulator heterostructure. Under an out-of-plane temperature gradient and an in-plane magnetic field, the NbSe2/LAFO bilayer shows a pronounced thermoelectric peak near the upper critical magnetic field, which has the opposite sign to the conventional vortex Nernst signal observed in a single-layer NbSe2. The sign reversal suggests that the vortex flow induced by spin current injection is opposite to the flow driven by the temperature gradient, which is consistent with theoretical mechanisms including spin-vorticity transmutation and the inverse vortex spin Hall effect. By mapping the field temperature phase diagram, we reveal that the spin current injection occurs exclusively in the vortex liquid phase of NbSe2. Absence of the thermoelectric signal above the superconducting transition temperature further rules out the quasiparticle contribution. Our results establish vortices as efficient carriers of spin information in superconductors, opening a new route towards vortex-mediated superconducting spintronic devices.