Distributed spin transport in non-collinear perpendicular spin valves

Abstract We solve the diffusion equation in the normal metal of ferromagnet–normal metal–ferromagnet (F–N–F) systems with non-collinear magnetizations. It is shown that the total conductance of the system in the presence of a magnetic field can be asymmetric with respect to time reversal. This asymmetry is associated with precession processes described by the imaginary part of the recently introduced mixing conductance.