The spin Hall effect (SHE), induced by spin-orbit interaction in nonmagneticmaterials, is one of the promising phenomena for conversion between charge andspin currents in spintronic devices. The spin Hall (SH) angle is thecharacteristic parameter of this conversion. We have performed experiments ofthe conversion from spin into charge currents by the SHE in lateral spin valvestructures. We present experimental results on the extrinsic SHEs induced bydoping nonmagnetic metals, Cu or Ag, with impurities having a large spin-orbitcoupling, Bi or Pb, as well as results on the intrinsic SHE of Au. The SH angleinduced by Bi in Cu or Ag is negative and particularly large for Bi in Cu, 10times larger than the intrinsic SH angle in Au. We also observed a large SHangle for CuPb but the SHE signal disappeared in a few days. Such an agingeffect could be related to a fast mobility of Pb in Cu and has not beenobserved in CuBi alloys.
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