https://phys.org/news/2018-06-thermal-currents-space.html

In cooperation with national and international universities, Dr. Timo Kuschel, Dr. Oliver Reimer, and the Ph.D. student Panagiota Bougiatioti recently achieved three breakthroughs in basic research on spin caloritronics.

Confirmation of spin currents: Confirming that a spin current is generated in a specific material is not a trivial concern, according to Kuschel. "In some materials, it cannot be shown unequivocally, because other effects such as classical thermoelectric effects are automatically detected as well." The Bielefeld Ph.D. student Panagiota Bougiatioti has now succeeded in developing a method for such materials that filters out and separates parasitic effects from the effect generating the spin current. This enables scientists to determine unequivocally whether a spin current is generated in a specific material. The project team also included researchers from Osnabrück University and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble. It has published its findings in the journal Physical Review Letters.