Unidirectional Spin Hall Magnetoresistance as a Tool for Probing the Interfacial Spin Polarization of Co2MnSi

Materials with high spin polarization, such as Heusler compounds, are required for efficient spintronics. The authors propose an approach to probe the transport spin polarization at interfaces, using the recently discovered unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance. They show that insertion of thin Ag(001) layers clearly increases the interfacial spin polarization of the Heusler compound Co${}_{2}$MnSi, which is crucial for giant-magnetoresistance devices.