Analysis of surface acoustic wave induced spin resonance of a spin accumulation

It is shown that a surface acoustic wave (SAW) can induce spin resonance of a spin accumulation in a paramagnetic material. The high-frequency mechanical motion of the SAW produces an effective AC magnetic field. If it is oriented orthogonal to the spins, spin precession is induced if an additional DC magnetic field B-0 is applied along the spin axis and the corresponding Larmor frequency omega(0) matches the SAW frequency. The spin accumulation is then resonantly suppressed. We describe this SAW-induced spin resonance quantitatively and analyze the example of a nonlocal spin-transport device with a silicon channel, in which the spin accumulation is created by electrical spin injection from a ferromagnetic contact. The analysis demonstrates that the (nonlocal) electrical detection of SAW-induced spin resonance is feasible.