Observation of D’yakonov-Perel’-type magnon spin relaxation in uniaxial antiferromagnetic insulators

Long-distance transport of magnon spin currents in antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulators has attracted tremendous attention recently, however, the AFM magnon spin relaxation mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we report that the D'yakonov-Perel'-type magnon spin relaxation mechanism governs the spin current transport along the easy axis in two prototypical uniaxial AFM insulators, Cr₂O₃ and α-Fe₂O₃. First, an over 450% enhancement of the first-harmonic nonlocal signal induced by a magnetic field is observed prior to the spin-flop transition, which can be well-interpreted by our model incorporating D'yakonov-Perel'-type magnon spin relaxation. Secondly, we find that the magnon spin diffusion length in both crystals increases with magnetic field and saturates at fields above 0.8 T, consistent with our model. Finally, the temperature dependence of the zero-field magnon spin diffusion length in both AFM insulators can be qualitatively explained through our model. These findings are valuable for the development of low-dissipation antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.