  Spin-orbit effects [1-4] have the potential of radically changing the field
of spintronics by allowing transfer of spin angular momentum to a whole new
class of materials. In a seminal letter to Nature [5], Kajiwara et al. showed
that by depositing Platinum (Pt, a normal metal) on top of a 1.3 $\mu$m thick
Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG, a magnetic insulator), one could effectively transfer
spin angular momentum through the interface between these two different
materials. The outstanding feature was the detection of auto-oscillation of the
YIG when enough dc current was passed in the Pt. This finding has created a
great excitement in the community for two reasons: first, one could control
electronically the damping of insulators, which can offer improved properties
compared to metals, and here YIG has the lowest damping known in nature;
second, the damping compensation could be achieved on very large objects, a
particularly relevant point for the field of magnonics [6,7] whose aim is to
use spin-waves as carriers of information. However, the degree of coherence of
the observed auto-oscillations has not been addressed in ref. [5]. In this
work, we emphasize the key role of quasi-degenerate spin-wave modes, which
increase the threshold current. This requires to reduce both the thickness and
lateral size in order to reach full damping compensation [8] , and we show
clear evidence of coherent spin-orbit torque induced auto-oscillation in
micron-sized YIG discs of thickness 20 nm.
