Spin pumping and magnetization dynamics in metallic multilayers

We study the magnetization dynamics in thin ferromagnetic films and small ferromagnetic particles in contact with paramagnetic conductors. A moving magnetization vector causes “pumping” of spins into adjacent nonmagnetic layers. This spin transfer affects the magnetization dynamics similar to the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert phenomenology. The additional Gilbert damping is significant for small ferromagnets, when the nonmagnetic layers efficiently relax the injected spins, but the effect is reduced when a spin accumulation build-up in the normal metal opposes the spin pumping. The damping enhancement is governed by (and, in turn, can be used to measure) the mixing conductance or spin-torque parameter of the ferromagnet-normal-metal interface. Our theoretical findings are confirmed by agreement with recent experiments in a variety of multilayer systems.