ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the spin Seebeck effect (SSE), from its initial measurement to experimental developments. It introduces the SSE and discusses its basic physical mechanism and experimental measurement configuration. The chapter also introduces the enhancement of the SSE in multilayer systems. It shows that in structures formed by multiple repetitions of F/N bilayers, where F is a ferromagnet and N is a normal metal, the heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of the SSE is greatly increased as a result of an unexpected spin Seebeck voltage enhancement in these structures. The chapter reviews experimental developments of the SSE in materials with different types of magnetic order: compensated ferrimagnets, antiferromagnets and paramagnetic materials. The chapter also focuses on spin caloritronic phenomena related to heat excitation of incoherent spin currents, these are spin currents carried by conduction electrons, typically in magnetic tunnel junctions or metallic spin valve systems.
