Low-temperature nanoscale heat transport in a gadolinium iron garnet heterostructure probed by ultrafast x-ray diffraction.

Time-resolved x-ray diffraction has been used to measure the low-temperature thermal transport properties of a Pt/GdFeO//GdGaO metal/oxide heterostructure relevant to applications in spin caloritronics. A pulsed femtosecond optical signal produces a rapid temperature rise in the Pt layer, followed by heat transport into the GdFeO (GdIG) thin film and the GdGaO (GGG) substrate. The time dependence of x-ray diffraction from the GdIG layer was tracked using an accelerator-based femtosecond x-ray source. The ultrafast diffraction measurements probed the intensity of the GdIG (1 -1 2) x-ray reflection in a grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction geometry. The comparison of the variation of the diffracted x-ray intensity with a model including heat transport and the temperature dependence of the GdIG lattice parameter allows the thermal conductance of the Pt/GdIG and GdIG//GGG interfaces to be determined. Complementary synchrotron x-ray diffraction studies of the low-temperature thermal expansion properties of the GdIG layer provide a precise calibration of the temperature dependence of the GdIG lattice parameter. The interfacial thermal conductance of the Pt/GdIG and GdIG//GGG interfaces determined from the time-resolved diffraction study is of the same order of magnitude as previous reports for metal/oxide and epitaxial dielectric interfaces. The thermal parameters of the Pt/GdIG//GGG heterostructure will aid in the design and implementation of thermal transport devices and nanostructures.