  Spin Hall effect and its inverse provide essential means to convert charge to
spin currents and vice versa, which serve as a primary function for spintronic
phenomena such as the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance and the spin Seebeck
effect. These effects can oscillate magnetization or detect a thermally
generated spin splitting in the chemical potential. Importantly this conversion
process occurs via the spin-orbit interaction, and requires neither magnetic
materials nor external magnetic fields. However, the spin Hall angle, i.e., the
conversion yield between the charge and spin currents, depends severely on the
experimental methods. Here we discuss the spin Hall angle and the spin
diffusion length for a variety of materials including pure metals such as Pt
and Ta, alloys and oxides determined by the spin absorption method in a lateral
spin valve structure.
