Spin pumping from nuclear spin waves

Various spintronic phenomena originate from the exchange of angular momentum between the spin of electrons and other degrees of freedom in crystalline materials. Many degrees of freedom, such as magnetization ¹ and mechanical motion ² , have already been united into this exchange framework. However, the nuclear spin—a key angular momentum—has yet to be incorporated. Here we observe spin pumping from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), in which nuclear spin dynamics emits a spin current, a flow of spin angular momentum of electrons. By using the canted antiferromagnet MnCO ₃ , in which typical nuclear spin-wave formation is established due to the reinforced hyperfine coupling, we find that a spin current is generated from an NMR. Nuclear spins are indispensable for quantum information technology ³ and are also frequently used in various sensors, such as in magnetic resonance imaging ⁴ . The observed NMR spin pumping allows spin-current generation from nuclei and will enable spintronic detection of nuclear spin states.