Spin nutation effects in molecular nanomagnet–superconductor tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abouie, J; Abdollahipour, B; Rostami, A A

2013-01-01

We study the spin nutation effects of a molecular nanomagnet on the Josephson current through a superconductor|molecular nanomagnet|superconductor tunnel junction. We explicitly demonstrate that, due to the spin nutation of the molecular nanomagnet, two oscillatory terms emerge in the ac Josephson current in addition to the conventional ac Josephson current. Some resonances occur in the junction due to the interactions of the transported quasiparticles with the bias voltage and molecular nanomagnet spin dynamics. Their appearance indicates that the energy exchanged during these interactions is in the range of the superconducting energy gap. We also show that the spin nutation is able to convert the ac Josephson current to a dc current, which is interesting for applications. (paper)

A new spin-functional MOSFET based on magnetic tunnel junction technology: pseudo-spin-MOSFET

OpenAIRE

Shuto, Yusuke; Nakane, Ryosho; Wang, Wenhong; Sukegawa, Hiroaki; Yamamoto, Shuu'ichirou; Tanaka, Masaaki; Inomata, Koichiro; Sugahara, Satoshi

2009-01-01

We fabricated and characterized a new spin-functional MOSFET referred to as a pseudo-spin-MOSFET (PS-MOSFET). The PS-MOSFET is a circuit using an ordinary MOSFET and magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) for reproducing functions of spin-transistors. Device integration techniques for a bottom gate MOSFET using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate and for an MTJ with a full-Heusler alloy electrode and MgO tunnel barrier were developed. The fabricated PS-MOSFET exhibited high and low transconductanc...

Interconnected magnetic tunnel junctions for spin-logic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Manfrini, Mauricio; Vaysset, Adrien; Wan, Danny; Raymenants, Eline; Swerts, Johan; Rao, Siddharth; Zografos, Odysseas; Souriau, Laurent; Gavan, Khashayar Babaei; Rassoul, Nouredine; Radisic, Dunja; Cupak, Miroslav; Dehan, Morin; Sayan, Safak; Nikonov, Dmitri E.; Manipatruni, Sasikanth; Young, Ian A.; Mocuta, Dan; Radu, Iuliana P.

2018-05-01

With the rapid progress of spintronic devices, spin-logic concepts hold promises of energy-delay conscious computation for efficient logic gate operations. We report on the electrical characterization of domain walls in interconnected magnetic tunnel junctions. By means of spin-transfer torque effect, domains walls are produced at the common free layer and its propagation towards the output pillar sensed by tunneling magneto-resistance. Domain pinning conditions are studied quasi-statically showing a strong dependence on pillar size, ferromagnetic free layer width and inter-pillar distance. Addressing pinning conditions are detrimental for cascading and fan-out of domain walls across nodes, enabling the realization of domain-wall-based logic technology.

Large positive spin polarization and giant inverse tunneling magnetoresistance in Fe/PbTiO3/Fe multiferroic tunnel junction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai, Jian-Qing; Zhang, Hu; Song, Yu-Min

2014-01-01

We perform first-principles electronic structure and spin-dependent transport calculations of a multiferroic tunnel junction (MFTJ) with an epitaxial Fe/PbTiO 3 /Fe heterostructure. We predict a large positive spin-polarization (SP) and an intriguing giant inverse tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio in this tunnel junction. We demonstrate that the tunneling properties are determined by ferroelectric (FE) polarization screening and electronic reconstruction at the interface with lower electrostatic potential. The intricate complex band structure of PbTiO 3 , in particular the lowest decay rates concerning Pb 6p z and Ti 3d z2 states near the Γ ¯ point, gives rise to the large positive SP of the tunneling current in the parallel magnetic configuration. However, the giant inverse TMR ratio is attributed to the minority-spin electrons of the interfacial Ti 3d xz +3d yz orbitals which have considerably weight in the extended area around the Γ ¯ point at the Fermi energy and causes remarkable contributions to the conductance in the antiparallel magnetic configuration. - Highlights: • We study spin-dependent tunneling in Fe/PbTiO 3 /Fe multiferroic tunnel junction. • We find a large positive spin polarization in the parallel magnetic configuration. • An intriguing giant inverse TMR ratio (about −2000%) is predicted. • Complex band structure of PbTiO 3 causes the large positive spin polarization. • Negative TMR is due to minority-spin electrons of interfacial Ti d xz +d yz orbitals

Electron-spin polarization in tunnel junctions with ferromagnetic EuS barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao, X.; Moodera, J.S.; Meservey, R.

1989-01-01

The authors report here spin-polarized tunneling experiments using non-ferromagnetic electrodes and ferromagnetic EuS barriers. Because of the conduction band in EuS splits into spin-up and spin-down subbands when the temperature is below 16.7 K, the Curie temperature of EuS, the tunnel barrier for electrons with different spin directions is different, therefore giving rise to tunnel current polarization. The spin-filter effect, as it may be called, was observed earlier, directly or indirectly, by several groups: Esaki et al. made a tunneling study on junctions having EuS and EuSe barriers; Thompson et al. studied Schottky barrier tunneling between In and doped EuS; Muller et al. and Kisker et al. performed electron field emission experiments on EuS-coated tungsten tips. The field emission experiments gave a maximum polarization of (89 + 7)% for the emitted electrons. Although the previous tunneling studies did not directly show electron polarization, their results were explained by the same spin- filter effect. This work uses the spin-polarized tunneling technique to show directly that tunnel current is indeed polarized and polarization can be as high as 85%

All-electric-controlled spin current switching in single-molecule magnet-tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zheng-Zhong; Shen, Rui; Sheng, Li; Wang, Rui-Qiang; Wang, Bai-Gen; Xing, Ding-Yu

2011-04-01

A single-molecule magnet (SMM) coupled to two normal metallic electrodes can both switch spin-up and spin-down electronic currents within two different windows of SMM gate voltage. Such spin current switching in the SMM tunnel junction arises from spin-selected single electron resonant tunneling via the lowest unoccupied molecular orbit of the SMM. Since it is not magnetically controlled but all-electrically controlled, the proposed spin current switching effect may have potential applications in future spintronics.

Spin-wave thermal population as temperature probe in magnetic tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Goff, A., E-mail: adrien.le-goff@u-psud.fr; Devolder, T. [Institut d' Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay (France); Nikitin, V. [SAMSUNG Electronics Corporation, 601 McCarthy Blvd Milpitas, California 95035 (United States)

2016-07-14

We study whether a direct measurement of the absolute temperature of a Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) can be performed using the high frequency electrical noise that it delivers under a finite voltage bias. Our method includes quasi-static hysteresis loop measurements of the MTJ, together with the field-dependence of its spin wave noise spectra. We rely on an analytical modeling of the spectra by assuming independent fluctuations of the different sub-systems of the tunnel junction that are described as macrospin fluctuators. We illustrate our method on perpendicularly magnetized MgO-based MTJs patterned in 50 × 100 nm{sup 2} nanopillars. We apply hard axis (in-plane) fields to let the magnetic thermal fluctuations yield finite conductance fluctuations of the MTJ. Instead of the free layer fluctuations that are observed to be affected by both spin-torque and temperature, we use the magnetization fluctuations of the sole reference layers. Their much stronger anisotropy and their much heavier damping render them essentially immune to spin-torque. We illustrate our method by determining current-induced heating of the perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junction at voltages similar to those used in spin-torque memory applications. The absolute temperature can be deduced with a precision of ±60 K, and we can exclude any substantial heating at the spin-torque switching voltage.

The anisotropic tunneling behavior of spin transport in graphene-based magnetic tunneling junction

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Mengchun; Li, Peisen; Qiu, Weicheng; Zhao, Jianqiang; Peng, Junping; Hu, Jiafei; Hu, Jinghua; Tian, Wugang; Hu, Yueguo; Chen, Dixiang; Wu, Xuezhong; Xu, Zhongjie; Yuan, Xuefeng

2018-05-01

Due to the theoretical prediction of large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR), graphene-based magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) has become an important branch of high-performance spintronics device. In this paper, the non-collinear spin filtering and transport properties of MTJ with the Ni/tri-layer graphene/Ni structure were studied in detail by utilizing the non-equilibrium Green's formalism combined with spin polarized density functional theory. The band structure of Ni-C bonding interface shows that Ni-C atomic hybridization facilitates the electronic structure consistency of graphene and nickel, which results in a perfect spin filtering effect for tri-layer graphene-based MTJ. Furthermore, our theoretical results show that the value of tunneling resistance changes with the relative magnetization angle of two ferromagnetic layers, displaying the anisotropic tunneling behavior of graphene-based MTJ. This originates from the resonant conduction states which are strongly adjusted by the relative magnetization angles. In addition, the perfect spin filtering effect is demonstrated by fitting the anisotropic conductance with the Julliere's model. Our work may serve as guidance for researches and applications of graphene-based spintronics device.

Negative tunnel magnetoresistance and spin transport in ferromagnetic graphene junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Jianfei; Jin Guojun; Ma Yuqiang

2009-01-01

We study the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and spin transport in ferromagnetic graphene junctions composed of ferromagnetic graphene (FG) and normal graphene (NG) layers. It is found that the TMR in the FG/NG/FG junction oscillates from positive to negative values with respect to the chemical potential adjusted by the gate voltage in the barrier region when the Fermi level is low enough. Particularly, the conventionally defined TMR in the FG/FG/FG junction oscillates periodically from a positive to negative value with increasing the barrier height at any Fermi level. The spin polarization of the current through the FG/FG/FG junction also has an oscillating behavior with increasing barrier height, whose oscillating amplitude can be modulated by the exchange splitting in the ferromagnetic graphene.

Negative tunnel magnetoresistance and spin transport in ferromagnetic graphene junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Jianfei; Jin, Guojun; Ma, Yu-Qiang

2009-03-25

We study the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and spin transport in ferromagnetic graphene junctions composed of ferromagnetic graphene (FG) and normal graphene (NG) layers. It is found that the TMR in the FG/NG/FG junction oscillates from positive to negative values with respect to the chemical potential adjusted by the gate voltage in the barrier region when the Fermi level is low enough. Particularly, the conventionally defined TMR in the FG/FG/FG junction oscillates periodically from a positive to negative value with increasing the barrier height at any Fermi level. The spin polarization of the current through the FG/FG/FG junction also has an oscillating behavior with increasing barrier height, whose oscillating amplitude can be modulated by the exchange splitting in the ferromagnetic graphene.

Theoretical consideration of spin-polarized resonant tunneling in magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mu Haifeng; Zhu Zhengang; Zheng Qingrong; Jin Biao; Wang Zhengchuan; Su Gang

2004-01-01

A recent elegant experimental realization [S. Yuasa et al., Science 297 (2002) 234] of the spin-polarized resonant tunneling in magnetic tunnel junctions is interpreted in terms of a two-band model. It is shown that the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) decays oscillatorily with the thickness of the normal metal (NM) layer, being fairly in agreement with the experimental observation. The tunnel conductance is found to decay with slight oscillations with the increase of the NM layer thickness, which is also well consistent with the experiment. In addition, when the magnetizations of both ferromagnet electrodes are not collinearly aligned, TMR is found to exhibit sharp resonant peaks at some particular thickness of the NM layer. The peaked TMR obeys nicely a Gaussian distribution against the relative orientation of the magnetizations

Thermoelectric-induced spin currents in single-molecule magnet tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhengzhong; Jiang, Liang; Wang, Ruiqiang; Wang, Baigeng; Xing, D. Y.

2010-12-01

A molecular spin-current generator is proposed, which consists of a single-molecule magnet (SMM) coupled to two normal metal electrodes with temperature gradient. It is shown that this tunneling junction can generate a highly spin-polarized current by thermoelectric effects, whose flowing direction and spin polarization can be changed by adjusting the gate voltage applied to the SMM. This device can be realized with current technologies and may have practical use in spintronics and quantum information.

Electronic transport through EuO spin-filter tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Jutong, Nuttachai

2012-11-12

Epitaxial spin-filter tunnel junctions based on the ferromagnetic semiconductor europium monoxide (EuO) are investigated by means of density functional theory. In particular, we focus on the spin transport properties of Cu(100)/EuO(100)/Cu(100) junctions. The dependence of the transmission coefficient and the current-voltage curves on the interface spacing and EuO thickness is explained in terms of the EuO density of states and the complex band structure. Furthermore, we also discuss the relation between the spin transport properties and the Cu-EuO interface geometry. The level alignment of the junction is sensitively affected by the interface spacing, since this determines the charge transfer between EuO and the Cu electrodes. Our calculations indicate that EuO epitaxially grown on Cu can act as a perfect spin filter, with a spin polarization of the current close to 100%, and with both the Eu-5d conduction-band and the Eu-4f valence-band states contributing to the coherent transport. For epitaxial EuO on Cu, a symmetry filtering is observed, with the Δ1 states dominating the transmission. This leads to a transport gap larger than the fundamental EuO band gap. Importantly, the high spin polarization of the current is preserved up to large bias voltages.

The tunneling magnetoresistance and spin-polarized optoelectronic properties of graphyne-based molecular magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Zhi; Ouyang, Bin; Lan, Guoqing; Xu, Li-Chun; Liu, Ruiping; Liu, Xuguang

2017-01-01

Using density functional theory and the non-equilibrium Green’s function method, we investigate the spin-dependent transport and optoelectronic properties of the graphyne-based molecular magnetic tunnel junctions (MMTJs). We find that these MMTJs exhibit an outstanding tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. The TMR value is as high as 10 6 %. When the magnetization directions of two electrodes are antiparallel under positive or negative bias voltages, two kinds of pure spin currents can be obtained in the systems. Furthermore, under the irradiation of infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, spin-polarized photocurrents can be generated in the MMTJs, but the corresponding microscopic mechanisms are different. More importantly, if the magnetization directions of two electrodes are antiparallel, the photocurrents with different spins are spatially separated, appearing at different electrodes. This phenomenon provides a new way to simultaneously generate two spin currents. (paper)

Analytic expression for the giant fieldlike spin torque in spin-filter magnetic tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Y.-H.; Huang, Z.-W.; Huang, B.-H.

2017-08-01

We propose analytic expressions for fieldlike, T⊥, and spin-transfer, T∥, spin torque components in the spin-filter-based magnetic tunnel junction (SFMTJ), by using the single-band tight-binding model with the nonequilibrium Keldysh formalism. In consideration of multireflection processes between noncollinear magnetization of the spin-filter (SF) barrier and the ferromagnetic (FM) electrode, the central spin-selective SF barrier plays an active role in the striking discovery T⊥≫T∥ , which can be further identified by the unusual barrier thickness dependence of giant T⊥. Our general expressions reveal the sinusoidal angular dependence of both spin torque components, even in the presence of the SF barrier.

Interfacial spin-orbit splitting and current-driven spin torque in anisotropic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Manchon, Aurelien

2011-05-17

Spin transport in magnetic tunnel junctions comprising a single magnetic layer in the presence of interfacial spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is investigated theoretically. Due to the presence of interfacial SOI, a current-driven spin torque can be generated at the second order in SOI, even in the absence of an external spin polarizer. This torque possesses two components, one in plane and one perpendicular to the plane of rotation, that can induce either current-driven magnetization switching from an in-plane to out-of-plane configuration or magnetization precessions, similar to spin transfer torque in spin valves. Consequently, it appears that it is possible to control the magnetization steady state and dynamics by either varying the bias voltage or electrically modifying the SOI at the interface.

Multiscale modeling of current-induced switching in magnetic tunnel junctions using ab initio spin-transfer torques

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Matthew O. A.; Stamenova, Maria; Sanvito, Stefano

2017-12-01

There exists a significant challenge in developing efficient magnetic tunnel junctions with low write currents for nonvolatile memory devices. With the aim of analyzing potential materials for efficient current-operated magnetic junctions, we have developed a multi-scale methodology combining ab initio calculations of spin-transfer torque with large-scale time-dependent simulations using atomistic spin dynamics. In this work we introduce our multiscale approach, including a discussion on a number of possible schemes for mapping the ab initio spin torques into the spin dynamics. We demonstrate this methodology on a prototype Co/MgO/Co/Cu tunnel junction showing that the spin torques are primarily acting at the interface between the Co free layer and MgO. Using spin dynamics we then calculate the reversal switching times for the free layer and the critical voltages and currents required for such switching. Our work provides an efficient, accurate, and versatile framework for designing novel current-operated magnetic devices, where all the materials details are taken into account.

Ultrafast demagnetization enhancement in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunneling junction driven by spin tunneling current.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Wei; Zhu, Tao; Zhang, Xiang-Qun; Yang, Hai-Tao; Cheng, Zhao-Hua

2013-10-07

The laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunneling junction is exploited by time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (TRMOKE) for both the parallel state (P state) and the antiparallel state (AP state) of the magnetizations between two magnetic layers. It was observed that the demagnetization time is shorter and the magnitude of demagnetization is larger in the AP state than those in the P state. These behaviors are attributed to the ultrafast spin transfer between two CoFeB layers via the tunneling of hot electrons through the MgO barrier. Our observation indicates that ultrafast demagnetization can be engineered by the hot electrons tunneling current. It opens the door to manipulate the ultrafast spin current in magnetic tunneling junctions.

Analytical description of ballistic spin currents and torques in magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Chshiev, M.; Manchon, Aurelien; Kalitsov, A.; Ryzhanova, N.; Vedyayev, A.; Strelkov, N.; Butler, W. H.; Dieny, B.

2015-01-01

In this work we demonstrate explicit analytical expressions for both charge and spin currents which constitute the 2×2 spinor in magnetic tunnel junctions with noncollinear magnetizations under applied voltage. The calculations have been performed

Spin-transfer torque in tunnel junctions with ferromagnetic layer of finite thickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilczynski, M.

2011-01-01

Two components of the spin torque exerted on a free ferromagnetic layer of finite thickness and a half-infinite ferromagnetic electrode in single tunnel junctions have been calculated in the spin-polarized free-electron-like one-band model. It has been found that the torque oscillates with the thickness of ferromagnetic layer and can be enhanced in the junction with the special layer thickness. The bias dependence of torque components also significantly changes with layer thickness. It is non-symmetric for the normal torque, in contrast to the symmetric junctions with two identical half-infinite ferromagnetic electrodes. The asymmetry of the bias dependence of the normal component of the torque can be also observed in the junctions with different spin splitting of the electron bands in the ferromagnetic electrodes. - Research highlights: → The torque oscillates with the thickness of ferromagnetic layer. → Bias dependence of the torque changes with the layer thickness. → Bias dependence of the normal torque can be asymmetric.

Spin-filtering junctions with double ferroelectric barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Ju; Ding-Yu, Xing

2009-01-01

An FS/FE/NS/FE/FS double tunnel junction is suggested to have the ability to inject, modulate and detect the spin-polarized current electrically in a single device, where FS is the ferromagnetic semiconductor electrode, NS is the nonmagnetic semiconductor, and FE the ferroelectric barrier. The spin polarization of the current injected into the NS region can be switched between a highly spin-polarized state and a spin unpolarized state. The high spin polarization may be detected by measuring the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio of the double tunnel junction

Tunnel magnetoresistance in asymmetric double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Useinov, N.Kh.; Petukhov, D.A.; Tagirov, L.R.

2015-01-01

The spin-polarized tunnel conductance and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) through a planar asymmetric double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction (DBMTJ) have been calculated using quasi-classical model. In DBMTJ nanostructure the magnetization of middle ferromagnetic metal layer can be aligned parallel or antiparallel with respect to the fixed magnetizations of the top and bottom ferromagnetic electrodes. The transmission coefficients of an electron to pass through the barriers have been calculated in terms of quantum mechanics. The dependencies of tunnel conductance and TMR on the applied voltage have been calculated in case of non-resonant transmission. Estimated in the framework of our model, the difference between the spin-channels conductances at low voltages was found relatively large. This gives rise to very high magnitude of TMR. - Highlights: • The spin-polarized conductance through the junction is calculated. • Dependencies of the tunnel conductance vs applied bias are shown. • Bias voltage dependence of tunnel magnetoresistance for the structure is shown

Spin-flip scattering effect on the current-induced spin torque in ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Zhengang; Su Gang; Jin Biao; Zheng Qingrong

2003-01-01

We have investigated the current-induced spin transfer torque of a ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet tunnel junction by taking the spin-flip scatterings into account. It is found that the spin-flip scattering can induce an additional spin torque, enhancing the maximum of the spin torque and giving rise to an angular shift compared to the case when the spin-flip scatterings are neglected. The effects of the molecular fields of the left and right ferromagnets on the spin torque are also studied. It is found that τ Rx /I e (τ Rx is the spin-transfer torque acting on the right ferromagnet and I e is the tunneling electrical current) does vary with the molecular fields. At two certain angles, τ Rx /I e is independent of the molecular field of the right ferromagnet, resulting in two crossing points in the curve of τ Rx /I e versus the relevant orientation for different molecular fields

Spin asymmetry calculations of the TMR-V curves in single and double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Useinov, Arthur

2011-10-01

Spin-polarization asymmetry is the key parameter in asymmetric voltage behavior (AVB) of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in magnetic tunnel junctions. In this paper, we study the value of the TMR as a function of the applied voltage Va in the single as well as double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions (SMTJ & DMTJ, which are constructed from CoFeB/MgO interfaces) and numerically estimate the possible difference of the TMR-V a curves for negative and positive voltages in the homojunctions. As a result, we found that AVB may help to determine the exact values of Fermi wave vectors for minority and majority conducting spin sub-bands. Moreover, significant asymmetry of the experimental TMR-Va curves, which arises due to different annealing regimes, is explained by different heights of the tunnel barriers and values of the spin asymmetry. The numerical TMR-V a data are in good agreement with experimental ones. © 2011 IEEE.

Valley and spin resonant tunneling current in ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic/ferromagnetic silicene junction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaser Hajati

2016-02-01

Full Text Available We study the transport properties in a ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic/ferromagnetic (FNF silicene junction in which an electrostatic gate potential, U, is attached to the nonmagnetic region. We show that the electrostatic gate potential U is a useful probe to control the band structure, quasi-bound states in the nonmagnetic barrier as well as the transport properties of the FNF silicene junction. In particular, by introducing the electrostatic gate potential, both the spin and valley conductances of the junction show an oscillatory behavior. The amplitude and frequency of such oscillations can be controlled by U. As an important result, we found that by increasing U, the second characteristic of the Klein tunneling is satisfied as a result of the quasiparticles chirality which can penetrate through a potential barrier. Moreover, it is found that for special values of U, the junction shows a gap in the spin and valley-resolve conductance and the amplitude of this gap is only controlled by the on-site potential difference, Δz. Our findings of high controllability of the spin and valley transport in such a FNF silicene junction may improve the performance of nano-electronics and spintronics devices.

Tunneling conductance oscillations in spin-orbit coupled metal-insulator-superconductor junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Kapri, Priyadarshini; Basu, Saurabh

2018-01-01

The tunneling conductance for a device consisting of a metal-insulator-superconductor (MIS) junction is studied in presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) via an extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism. We find that the tunneling conductance as a function of an effective barrier potential that defines the insulating layer and lies intermediate to the metallic and superconducting electrodes, displays an oscillatory behavior. The tunneling conductance shows high sensitivity to the RSOC for certain ranges of this potential, while it is insensitive to the RSOC for others. Additionally, when the period of oscillations is an odd multiple of a certain value of the effective potential, the conductance spectrum as a function of the biasing energy demonstrates a contrasting trend with RSOC, compared to when it is not an odd multiple. The explanations for the observation can be found in terms of a competition between the normal and Andreev reflections. Similar oscillatory behavior of the conductance spectrum is also seen for other superconducting pairing symmetries, thereby emphasizing that the insulating layer plays a decisive role in the conductance oscillations of a MIS junction. For a tunable Rashba coupling, the current flowing through the junction can be controlled with precision.

Size dependence of spin-torque induced magnetic switching in CoFeB-based perpendicular magnetization tunnel junctions (invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, J. Z.; Trouilloud, P. L.; Gajek, M. J.; Nowak, J.; Robertazzi, R. P.; Hu, G.; Abraham, D. W.; Gaidis, M. C.; Brown, S. L.; O'Sullivan, E. J.; Gallagher, W. J.; Worledge, D. C.

2012-04-01

CoFeB-based magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy are used as a model system for studies of size dependence in spin-torque-induced magnetic switching. For integrated solid-state memory applications, it is important to understand the magnetic and electrical characteristics of these magnetic tunnel junctions as they scale with tunnel junction size. Size-dependent magnetic anisotropy energy, switching voltage, apparent damping, and anisotropy field are systematically compared for devices with different materials and fabrication treatments. Results reveal the presence of sub-volume thermal fluctuation and reversal, with a characteristic length-scale of the order of approximately 40 nm, depending on the strength of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and exchange stiffness. To have the best spin-torque switching efficiency and best stability against thermal activation, it is desirable to optimize the perpendicular anisotropy strength with the junction size for intended use. It also is important to ensure strong exchange-stiffness across the magnetic thin film. These combine to give an exchange length that is comparable or larger than the lateral device size for efficient spin-torque switching.

Spin-dependent quasiparticle tunneling in junction superconductor-isolator-ferromagnetic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shlapak, Yu.V.; Shaternik, V.E.; Rudenko, E.M.

2001-01-01

The influence of Andreev reflection of quasiparticles in transparent tunnel junctions of superconductor-isolator-ferromagnetic on electric-current transport is studied within the framework of the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) model. It's obtained that current and signal-to-noise ratio can be increased for the memory cell by using in it the double-barrier tunnel junction ferromagnetic-isolator-superconductor-isolator-ferromagnetic instead off the usual tunnel junction ferromagnetic-isolator-ferromagnetic. The evolution of non-linear (tunnel-type) current-voltage characteristics with increasing of the junction transparency is described. (orig.)

Anomalous Tunnel Magnetoresistance and Spin Transfer Torque in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with Embedded Nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Useinov, Arthur; Ye, Lin-Xiu; Useinov, Niazbeck; Wu, Te-Ho; Lai, Chih-Huang

2015-01-01

The tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with embedded nanoparticles (NPs) was calculated in range of the quantum-ballistic model. The simulation was performed for electron tunneling through the insulating layer with embedded magnetic and non-magnetic NPs within the approach of the double barrier subsystem connected in parallel to the single barrier one. This model can be applied for both MTJs with in-plane magnetization and perpendicular one. We also calculated the in-plane component of the spin transfer torque (STT) versus the applied voltage in MTJs with magnetic NPs and determined that its value can be much larger than in single barrier system (SBS) for the same tunneling thickness. The reported simulation reproduces experimental data of the TMR suppression and peak-like TMR anomalies at low voltages available in leterature. PMID:26681336

Resonant tunnel magnetoresistance in a double magnetic tunnel junction

KAUST Repository

Useinov, Arthur; Useinov, Niazbeck Kh H; Tagirov, Lenar R.; Kosel, Jü rgen

2011-01-01

We present quasi-classical approach to calculate a spin-dependent current and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in double magnetic tunnel junctions (DMTJ) FML/I/FMW/I/FMR, where the magnetization of the middle ferromagnetic metal layer FMW can

Thermal stability of tunneling spin polarization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kant, C.H.; Kohlhepp, J.T.; Paluskar, P.V.; Swagten, H.J.M.; Jonge, W.J.M. de

2005-01-01

We present a study of the thermal stability of tunneling spin polarization in Al/AlOx/ferromagnet junctions based on the spin-polarized tunneling technique, in which the Zeeman-split superconducting density of states in the Al electrode is used as a detector for the spin polarization. Thermal robustness of the polarization, which is of key importance for the performance of magnetic tunnel junction devices, is demonstrated for post-deposition anneal temperatures up to 500 o C with Co and Co 90 Fe 10 top electrodes, independent of the presence of an FeMn layer on top of the ferromagnet

Dynamical properties of three terminal magnetic tunnel junctions: Spintronics meets spin-orbitronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tomasello, R. [Department of Computer Science, Modeling, Electronics and System Science, University of Calabria, Rende (CS) (Italy); Carpentieri, M., E-mail: m.carpentieri@poliba.it [Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico of Bari, via E. Orabona 4, I-70125 Bari (Italy); Finocchio, G. [Department of Electronic Engineering, Industrial Chemistry and Engineering, University of Messina, C.da di Dio, I-98166 Messina (Italy)

2013-12-16

This Letter introduces a micromagnetic model able to characterize the magnetization dynamics in three terminal magnetic tunnel junctions, where the effects of spin-transfer torque and spin-orbit torque are taken into account. Our results predict that the possibility to separate electrically those two torque sources is very promising from a technological point of view for both next generation of nanoscale spintronic oscillators and microwave detectors. A scalable synchronization scheme based on the parallel connection of those three terminal devices is also proposed.

Dynamical properties of three terminal magnetic tunnel junctions: Spintronics meets spin-orbitronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomasello, R.; Carpentieri, M.; Finocchio, G.

2013-01-01

This Letter introduces a micromagnetic model able to characterize the magnetization dynamics in three terminal magnetic tunnel junctions, where the effects of spin-transfer torque and spin-orbit torque are taken into account. Our results predict that the possibility to separate electrically those two torque sources is very promising from a technological point of view for both next generation of nanoscale spintronic oscillators and microwave detectors. A scalable synchronization scheme based on the parallel connection of those three terminal devices is also proposed

Current-induced spin transfer torque in ferromagnet-marginal Fermi liquid double tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mu Haifeng; Zheng Qingrong; Jin Biao; Su Gang

2005-01-01

Current-induced spin transfer torque through a marginal Fermi liquid (MFL) which is connected to two noncollinearly aligned ferromagnets via tunnel junctions is discussed in terms of the nonequilibrium Green function method. It is found that in the absence of the spin-flip scattering, the magnitude of the torque increases with the polarization and the coupling constant λ of the MFL, whose maximum increases with λ linearly, showing that the interactions between electrons tend to enhance the spin torque. When the spin-flip scattering is included, an additional spin torque is induced. It is found that the spin-flip scattering enhances the spin torque and gives rise to a nonlinear angular shift

Manipulating the voltage dependence of tunneling spin torques

KAUST Repository

Manchon, Aurelien

2012-10-01

Voltage-driven spin transfer torques in magnetic tunnel junctions provide an outstanding tool to design advanced spin-based devices for memory and reprogrammable logic applications. The non-linear voltage dependence of the torque has a direct impact on current-driven magnetization dynamics and on devices performances. After a brief overview of the progress made to date in the theoretical description of the spin torque in tunnel junctions, I present different ways to alter and control the bias dependence of both components of the spin torque. Engineering the junction (barrier and electrodes) structural asymmetries or controlling the spin accumulation profile in the free layer offer promising tools to design effcient spin devices.

Analytical description of ballistic spin currents and torques in magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Chshiev, M.

2015-09-21

In this work we demonstrate explicit analytical expressions for both charge and spin currents which constitute the 2×2 spinor in magnetic tunnel junctions with noncollinear magnetizations under applied voltage. The calculations have been performed within the free electron model in the framework of the Keldysh formalism and WKB approximation. We demonstrate that spin/charge currents and spin transfer torques are all explicitly expressed through only three irreducible quantities, without further approximations. The conditions and mechanisms of deviation from the conventional sine angular dependence of both spin currents and torques are shown and discussed. It is shown in the thick barrier approximation that all tunneling transport quantities can be expressed in an extremely simplified form via Slonczewski spin polarizations and our effective spin averaged interfacial transmission probabilities and effective out-of-plane polarizations at both interfaces. It is proven that the latter plays a key role in the emergence of perpendicular spin torque as well as in the angular dependence character of all spin and charge transport considered. It is demonstrated directly also that for any applied voltage, the parallel component of spin current at the FM/I interface is expressed via collinear longitudinal spin current components. Finally, spin transfer torque behavior is analyzed in a view of transverse characteristic length scales for spin transport.

Anomalous spin-dependent tunneling statistics in Fe/MgO/Fe junctions induced by disorder at the interface

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Jiawei; Wang, Shizhuo; Xia, Ke; Ke, Youqi

2018-01-01

We present first-principles analysis of interfacial disorder effects on spin-dependent tunneling statistics in thin Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions. We find that interfacial disorder scattering can significantly modulate the tunneling statistics in the minority spin of the parallel configuration (PC) while all other spin channels remain dominated by the Poissonian process. For the minority-spin channel of PC, interfacial disorder scattering favors the formation of resonant tunneling channels by lifting the limitation of symmetry conservation at low concentration, presenting an important sub-Poissonian process in PC, but is destructive to the open channels at high concentration. We find that the important modulation of tunneling statistics is independent of the type of interfacial disorder. A bimodal distribution function of transmission with disorder dependence is introduced and fits very well our first-principles results. The increase of MgO thickness can quickly change the tunneling from a sub-Poissonian to Poissonian dominated process in the minority spin of PC with disorder. Our results provide a sensitive detection method of an ultralow concentration of interfacial defects.

Resonant TMR inversion in LiF/EuS based spin-filter tunnel junctions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fen Liu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Resonant tunneling can lead to inverse tunnel magnetoresistance when impurity levels rather than direct tunneling dominate the transport process. We fabricated hybrid magnetic tunnel junctions of CoFe/LiF/EuS/Ti, with an epitaxial LiF energy barrier joined with a polycrystalline EuS spin-filter barrier. Due to the water solubility of LiF, the devices were fully packaged in situ. The devices showed sizeable positive TMR up to 16% at low bias voltages but clearly inverted TMR at higher bias voltages. The TMR inversion depends sensitively on the thickness of LiF, and the tendency of inversion disappears when LiF gets thick enough and recovers its intrinsic properties.

Manipulating the spin states in a double molecular magnets tunneling junction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Liang; Liu, Xi [National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Zhang, Zhengzhong, E-mail: zeikeezhang@126.com [National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Nano Science and Technology Institute, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 215123 (China); Wang, Ruiqiang [Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China)

2014-01-17

We theoretically explore the spin transport through nano-structures consisting of two serially coupled single-molecular magnets (SMM) sandwiched between two nonmagnetic electrodes. We find that the magnetization of SMM can be controlled by the spin transfer torque with respect to the bias voltage direction, and the electron current can be switched on/off in different magnetic structures. Such a manipulation is performed by full electrical manner, and needs neither external magnetic field nor ferromagnetic electrodes in the tunneling junction. The proposal device scheme can be realized with the use of the present technology and has potential applications in molecular spintronics or quantum information processing.

Manipulating the spin states in a double molecular magnets tunneling junction

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Liang; Liu, Xi; Zhang, Zhengzhong; Wang, Ruiqiang

2014-01-01

We theoretically explore the spin transport through nano-structures consisting of two serially coupled single-molecular magnets (SMM) sandwiched between two nonmagnetic electrodes. We find that the magnetization of SMM can be controlled by the spin transfer torque with respect to the bias voltage direction, and the electron current can be switched on/off in different magnetic structures. Such a manipulation is performed by full electrical manner, and needs neither external magnetic field nor ferromagnetic electrodes in the tunneling junction. The proposal device scheme can be realized with the use of the present technology [6] and has potential applications in molecular spintronics or quantum information processing.

Resonant tunnel magnetoresistance in double-barrier planar magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Useinov, A. N.

2011-08-24

We present a theoretical approach to calculate the spin-dependent current and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in a double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction (DMTJ), in which the magnetization of the middle ferromagnetic metal layer can be aligned parallel or antiparallel in relation to the fixed magnetizations of the left and right ferromagnetic electrodes. The electron transport through the DMTJ is considered as a three-dimensional problem, taking into account all transmitting electron trajectories as well as the spin-dependent momentum conservation law. The dependence of the transmission coefficient and spin-polarized currents on the applied voltage is derived as an exact solution to the quantum-mechanical problem for the spin-polarized transport. In the range of the developed physical model, the resonant tunneling, nonresonant tunneling, and enhanced spin filtering can be explained; the simulation results are in good agreement with experimental data.

Resonant tunnel magnetoresistance in double-barrier planar magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Useinov, A. N.; Kosel, Jü rgen; Useinov, N. Kh.; Tagirov, L. R.

2011-01-01

We present a theoretical approach to calculate the spin-dependent current and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in a double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction (DMTJ), in which the magnetization of the middle ferromagnetic metal layer can be aligned parallel or antiparallel in relation to the fixed magnetizations of the left and right ferromagnetic electrodes. The electron transport through the DMTJ is considered as a three-dimensional problem, taking into account all transmitting electron trajectories as well as the spin-dependent momentum conservation law. The dependence of the transmission coefficient and spin-polarized currents on the applied voltage is derived as an exact solution to the quantum-mechanical problem for the spin-polarized transport. In the range of the developed physical model, the resonant tunneling, nonresonant tunneling, and enhanced spin filtering can be explained; the simulation results are in good agreement with experimental data.

State diagram of a perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction driven by spin transfer torque: A power dissipation approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lavanant, M. [Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 – Université de Lorraine, Nancy (France); Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Petit-Watelot, S. [Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 – Université de Lorraine, Nancy (France); Kent, A.D. [Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Mangin, S., E-mail: stephane.mangin@univ-lorraine.fr [Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 – Université de Lorraine, Nancy (France)

2017-04-15

The state diagram of a magnetic tunnel junction with perpendicularly magnetized electrodes in the presence of spin-transfer torques is computed in a macrospin approximation using a power dissipation model. Starting from the macrospin's energy we determine the stability of energy extremum in terms of power received and dissipated, allowing the consideration of non-conservative torques associated with spin transfer and damping. The results are shown to be in agreement with those obtained by direct integration of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Slonczewski equation. However, the power dissipation model approach is faster and shows the reason certain magnetic states are stable, such as states that are energy maxima but are stabilized by spin transfer torque. Breaking the axial system, such as by a tilted applied field or tilted anisotropy, is shown to dramatically affect the state diagrams. Finally, the influence of a higher order uniaxial anisotropy that can stabilize a canted magnetization state is considered and the results are compared to experimental data. - Highlights: • Methods to compute state Diagram (Voltage Versus Field) for perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junctions. • Comparison between the conventional LLG model and a model based on Power dissipation to study magnetization reversal in magnetic tunnel junction.

Scaling Projections on Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Debasis; Tulapurkar, Ashwin; Muralidharan, Bhaskaran

2018-02-01

We investigate scaling of technologically relevant magnetic tunnel junction devices in the trilayer and pentalayer configurations by varying the cross-sectional area along the transverse direction using the non-equilibrium Green's function spin transport formalism. We study the geometry dependence by considering square and circular cross-sections. As the transverse dimension in each case reduces, we demonstrate that the transverse mode energy profile plays a major role in the resistance-area product. Both types of devices show constant tunnel magnetoresistance at larger cross-sectional areas but achieve ultra-high magnetoresistance at small cross-sectional areas, while maintaining low resistance-area products. We notice that although the critical switching voltage for switching the magnetization of the free layer nanomagnet in the trilayer case remains constant at larger areas, it needs more energy to switch at smaller areas. In the pentalayer case, we observe an oscillatory behavior at smaller areas as a result of double barrier tunneling. We also describe how switching characteristics of both kinds of devices are affected by the scaling.

Spin torque switching of 20 nm magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy

Science.gov (United States)

Gajek, M.; Nowak, J. J.; Sun, J. Z.; Trouilloud, P. L.; O'Sullivan, E. J.; Abraham, D. W.; Gaidis, M. C.; Hu, G.; Brown, S.; Zhu, Y.; Robertazzi, R. P.; Gallagher, W. J.; Worledge, D. C.

2012-03-01

Spin-transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) is one of the most promising emerging non-volatile memory technologies. MRAM has so far been demonstrated with a unique combination of density, speed, and non-volatility in a single chip, however, without the capability to replace any single mainstream memory. In this paper, we demonstrate the basic physics of spin torque switching in 20 nm diameter magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy materials. This deep scaling capability clearly indicates the STT MRAM device itself may be suitable for integration at much higher densities than previously proven.

Spin-polarized tunneling with GaAs tips in scanning tunneling microscopy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prins, M.W.J.; Jansen, R.; Kempen, van H.

1996-01-01

We describe a model as well as experiments on spin-polarized tunneling with the aid of optical spin orientation. This involves tunnel junctions between a magnetic material and gallium arsenide (GaAs), where the latter is optically excited with circularly polarized light in order to generate

Spin-dependent electronic transport characteristics in Fe4N/BiFeO3/Fe4N perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Li; Wang, Xiaocha; Mi, Wenbo

2018-01-01

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) have attracted increasing attention owing to the low energy consumption and wide application prospects. Herewith, against Julliere's formula, an inverse tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) appears in tetragonal Fe4N/BiFeO3/Fe4N perpendicular MTJs, which is attributed to the binding between the interface resonant tunneling state and central (bordered) hot spots. Especially, antiferromagnetic BiFeO3 shows an extra spin-polarized resonant state in the barrier, which provides a magnetic-barrier factor to affect the tunneling transport in MTJs. Meanwhile, due to the spin-polarized transport in Fe4N/BiFeO3/Fe4N MTJs, the sign of TMR can be tuned by the applied bias. The tunable TMR and resonant magnetic barrier effect pave the way for clarifying the tunneling transport in other junctions and spintronic devices.

Modulation of spin transfer torque amplitude in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Clément, P.-Y.; Baraduc, C.; Ducruet, C.; Vila, L.; Chshiev, M.; Diény, B.

2015-09-01

Magnetization switching induced by spin transfer torque is used to write magnetic memories (Magnetic Random Access Memory, MRAM) but can be detrimental to the reading process. It would be quite convenient therefore to modulate the efficiency of spin transfer torque. A solution is adding an extra degree of freedom by using double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with two spin-polarizers, with controllable relative magnetic alignment. We demonstrate, for these structures, that the amplitude of in-plane spin transfer torque on the middle free layer can be efficiently tuned via the magnetic configuration of the electrodes. Using the proposed design could thus pave the way towards more reliable read/write schemes for MRAM. Moreover, our results suggest an intriguing effect associated with the out-of-plane (field-like) spin transfer torque, which has to be further investigated.

Modulation of spin transfer torque amplitude in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clément, P.-Y.; Baraduc, C.; Chshiev, M.; Diény, B.; Ducruet, C.; Vila, L.

2015-01-01

Magnetization switching induced by spin transfer torque is used to write magnetic memories (Magnetic Random Access Memory, MRAM) but can be detrimental to the reading process. It would be quite convenient therefore to modulate the efficiency of spin transfer torque. A solution is adding an extra degree of freedom by using double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with two spin-polarizers, with controllable relative magnetic alignment. We demonstrate, for these structures, that the amplitude of in-plane spin transfer torque on the middle free layer can be efficiently tuned via the magnetic configuration of the electrodes. Using the proposed design could thus pave the way towards more reliable read/write schemes for MRAM. Moreover, our results suggest an intriguing effect associated with the out-of-plane (field-like) spin transfer torque, which has to be further investigated

Tunnel magnetoresistance of magnetic molecules with spin-vibron coupling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Kenawy

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The effect of molecular vibrations on the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR of a magnetic tunnel junction with a single spin-anisotropic molecule interconnecting its electrodes is investigated theoretically. We demonstrate that if these vibrations couple at the same time to the charge of tunneling electrons and to the spin of the molecule, the spin anisotropy of such a molecule becomes enhanced. This has, in turn, a profound impact on the TMR of such a device showing that molecular vibrations lead to a significant change of spin-polarized transport, differing for the parallel and antiparallel magnetic configuration of the junction.

Tunneling magnetoresistance in junctions composed of ferromagnets and time-reversal invariant topological superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Zhongbo; Wan, Shaolong

2016-01-01

Tunneling magnetoresistance between two ferrromagnets is an issue of fundamental importance in spintronics. In this work, we show that tunneling magnetoresistance can also emerge in junctions composed of ferromagnets and time-reversal invariant topological superconductors without spin-rotation symmetry. Here the physical origin is that when the spin-polarization direction of an injected electron from the ferromagnet lies in the same plane of the spin-polarization direction of Majorana zero modes, the electron will undergo a perfect spin-equal Andreev reflection, while injected electrons with other spin-polarization directions will be partially Andreev reflected and partially normal reflected, which consequently has a lower conductance, and therefore, the magnetoresistance effect emerges. Compared to conventional magnetic tunnel junctions, an unprecedented advantage of the junctions studied here is that arbitrary high tunneling magnetoresistance can be obtained even when the magnetization of the ferromagnets are weak and the insulating tunneling barriers are featureless. Our findings provide a new fascinating mechanism to obtain high tunneling magnetoresistance. (paper)

Large resistance change on magnetic tunnel junction based molecular spintronics devices

Science.gov (United States)

Tyagi, Pawan; Friebe, Edward

2018-05-01

Molecular bridges covalently bonded to two ferromagnetic electrodes can transform ferromagnetic materials and produce intriguing spin transport characteristics. This paper discusses the impact of molecule induced strong coupling on the spin transport. To study molecular coupling effect the octametallic molecular cluster (OMC) was bridged between two ferromagnetic electrodes of a magnetic tunnel junction (Ta/Co/NiFe/AlOx/NiFe/Ta) along the exposed side edges. OMCs induced strong inter-ferromagnetic electrode coupling to yield drastic changes in transport properties of the magnetic tunnel junction testbed at the room temperature. These OMCs also transformed the magnetic properties of magnetic tunnel junctions. SQUID and ferromagnetic resonance studies provided insightful data to explain transport studies on the magnetic tunnel junction based molecular spintronics devices.

Spin injection and magnetoresistance in MoS2-based tunnel junctions using Fe3Si Heusler alloy electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotjanapittayakul, Worasak; Pijitrojana, Wanchai; Archer, Thomas; Sanvito, Stefano; Prasongkit, Jariyanee

2018-03-19

Recently magnetic tunnel junctions using two-dimensional MoS 2 as nonmagnetic spacer have been fabricated, although their magnetoresistance has been reported to be quite low. This may be attributed to the use of permalloy electrodes, injecting current with a relatively small spin polarization. Here we evaluate the performance of MoS 2 -based tunnel junctions using Fe 3 Si Heusler alloy electrodes. Density functional theory and the non-equilibrium Green's function method are used to investigate the spin injection efficiency (SIE) and the magnetoresistance (MR) ratio as a function of the MoS 2 thickness. We find a maximum MR of ~300% with a SIE of about 80% for spacers comprising between 3 and 5 MoS 2 monolayers. Most importantly, both the SIE and the MR remain robust at finite bias, namely MR > 100% and SIE > 50% at 0.7 V. Our proposed materials stack thus demonstrates the possibility of developing a new generation of performing magnetic tunnel junctions with layered two-dimensional compounds as spacers.

Spin polarization at the interface and tunnel magnetoresistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, H.; Inoue, J.

2001-01-01

We propose that interfacial states of imperfectly oxidized Al ions may exist in ferromagnetic tunnel junctions with Al-O barrier and govern both the spin polarization and tunnel conductance. It is shown that the spin polarization is positive independent of materials and correlates well with the tunnel magnetoresistance

Tunneling magnetoresistance and electroresistance in Fe/PbTiO3/Fe multiferroic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai, Jian-Qing

2016-01-01

We perform first-principles electronic structure and spin-dependent transport calculations for a Fe/PbTiO 3 /Fe multiferroic tunnel junction with asymmetric TiO 2 - and PbO-terminated interfaces. We demonstrate that the interfacial electronic reconstruction driven by the in situ screening of ferroelectric polarization, in conjunction with the intricate complex band structure of barrier, play a decisive role in controlling the spin-dependent tunneling. Reversal of ferroelectric polarization results in a transition from insulating to half-metal-like conducting state for the interfacial Pb 6p z orbitals, which acts as an atomic-scale spin-valve by releasing the tunneling current in antiparallel magnetization configuration as the ferroelectric polarization pointing to the PbO-terminated interface. This effect produces large change in tunneling conductance. Our results open an attractive avenue in designing multiferroic tunnel junctions with excellent performance by exploiting the interfacial electronic reconstruction originated from the in situ screening of ferroelectric polarization.

Tunneling Anomalous and Spin Hall Effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Matos-Abiague, A; Fabian, J

2015-07-31

We predict, theoretically, the existence of the anomalous Hall effect when a tunneling current flows through a tunnel junction in which only one of the electrodes is magnetic. The interfacial spin-orbit coupling present in the barrier region induces a spin-dependent momentum filtering in the directions perpendicular to the tunneling current, resulting in a skew tunneling even in the absence of impurities. This produces an anomalous Hall conductance and spin Hall currents in the nonmagnetic electrode when a bias voltage is applied across the tunneling heterojunction. If the barrier is composed of a noncentrosymmetric material, the anomalous Hall conductance and spin Hall currents become anisotropic with respect to both the magnetization and crystallographic directions, allowing us to separate this interfacial phenomenon from the bulk anomalous and spin Hall contributions. The proposed effect should be useful for proving and quantifying the interfacial spin-orbit fields in metallic and metal-semiconductor systems.

Temperature dependence of shot noise in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Jiasen; Liu, Liang; Feng, J. F.; Han, X. F.; Coey, J. M. D.; Zhang, X.-G.; Wei, Jian

2018-03-01

Shot noise reveals spin dependent transport properties in a magnetic tunnel junction. We report measurement of shot noise in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions, which shows a strong temperature dependence. The Fano factor used to characterize shot noise increases with decreasing temperature. A sequential tunneling model can be used to account for these results, in which a larger Fano factor results from larger spin relaxation length at lower temperatures.

Tunneling magnetoresistance and electroresistance in Fe/PbTiO{sub 3}/Fe multiferroic tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, Jian-Qing, E-mail: djqkust@sina.com [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093 (China)

2016-08-21

We perform first-principles electronic structure and spin-dependent transport calculations for a Fe/PbTiO{sub 3}/Fe multiferroic tunnel junction with asymmetric TiO{sub 2}- and PbO-terminated interfaces. We demonstrate that the interfacial electronic reconstruction driven by the in situ screening of ferroelectric polarization, in conjunction with the intricate complex band structure of barrier, play a decisive role in controlling the spin-dependent tunneling. Reversal of ferroelectric polarization results in a transition from insulating to half-metal-like conducting state for the interfacial Pb 6p{sub z} orbitals, which acts as an atomic-scale spin-valve by releasing the tunneling current in antiparallel magnetization configuration as the ferroelectric polarization pointing to the PbO-terminated interface. This effect produces large change in tunneling conductance. Our results open an attractive avenue in designing multiferroic tunnel junctions with excellent performance by exploiting the interfacial electronic reconstruction originated from the in situ screening of ferroelectric polarization.

Frequency driven inversion of tunnel magnetoimpedance and observation of positive tunnel magnetocapacitance in magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parui, Subir; Ribeiro, Mário; Atxabal, Ainhoa; Llopis, Roger; Bedoya-Pinto, Amilcar; Sun, Xiangnan; Casanova, Fèlix; Hueso, Luis E.

2016-01-01

The relevance for modern computation of non-volatile high-frequency memories makes ac-transport measurements of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) crucial for exploring this regime. Here, we demonstrate a frequency-mediated effect in which the tunnel magnetoimpedance reverses its sign in a classical Co/Al 2 O 3 /NiFe MTJ, whereas we only observe a gradual decrease in the tunnel magnetophase. Such effects are explained by the capacitive coupling of a parallel resistor and capacitor in the equivalent circuit model of the MTJ. Furthermore, we report a positive tunnel magnetocapacitance effect, suggesting the presence of a spin-capacitance at the two ferromagnet/tunnel-barrier interfaces. Our results are important for understanding spin transport phenomena at the high frequency regime in which the spin-polarized charge accumulation due to spin-dependent penetration depth at the two interfaces plays a crucial role.

Frequency driven inversion of tunnel magnetoimpedance and observation of positive tunnel magnetocapacitance in magnetic tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parui, Subir, E-mail: s.parui@nanogune.eu, E-mail: l.hueso@nanogune.eu; Ribeiro, Mário; Atxabal, Ainhoa; Llopis, Roger [CIC nanoGUNE, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain); Bedoya-Pinto, Amilcar [CIC nanoGUNE, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain); Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, D-06120 Halle (Germany); Sun, Xiangnan [CIC nanoGUNE, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain); National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 100190 Beijing (China); Casanova, Fèlix; Hueso, Luis E., E-mail: s.parui@nanogune.eu, E-mail: l.hueso@nanogune.eu [CIC nanoGUNE, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain); IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao (Spain)

2016-08-01

The relevance for modern computation of non-volatile high-frequency memories makes ac-transport measurements of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) crucial for exploring this regime. Here, we demonstrate a frequency-mediated effect in which the tunnel magnetoimpedance reverses its sign in a classical Co/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/NiFe MTJ, whereas we only observe a gradual decrease in the tunnel magnetophase. Such effects are explained by the capacitive coupling of a parallel resistor and capacitor in the equivalent circuit model of the MTJ. Furthermore, we report a positive tunnel magnetocapacitance effect, suggesting the presence of a spin-capacitance at the two ferromagnet/tunnel-barrier interfaces. Our results are important for understanding spin transport phenomena at the high frequency regime in which the spin-polarized charge accumulation due to spin-dependent penetration depth at the two interfaces plays a crucial role.

Negative tunneling magnetoresistance of Fe/MgO/NiO/Fe magnetic tunnel junction: Role of spin mixing and interface state

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y.; Yan, X. H.; Guo, Y. D.; Xiao, Y.

2017-08-01

Motivated by a recent tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) measurement in which the negative TMR is observed in MgO/NiO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), we have performed systematic calculations of transmission, current, and TMR of Fe/MgO/NiO/Fe MTJ with different thicknesses of NiO and MgO layers based on noncollinear density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function theory. The calculations show that, as the thickness of NiO and MgO layers is small, the negative TMR can be obtained which is attributed to the spin mixing effect and interface state. However, in the thick MTJ, the spin-flipping scattering becomes weaker, and thus, the MTJs recover positive TMR. Based on our theoretical results, we believe that the interface state at Fe/NiO interface and the spin mixing effect induced by noncollinear interfacial magnetization will play important role in determining transmission and current of Fe/MgO/NiO/Fe MTJ. The results reported here will be important in understanding the electron tunneling in MTJ with the barrier made by transition metal oxide.

Quantum size effects on spin-transfer torque in a double barrier magnetic tunnel junction with a nonmagnetic-metal (semiconductor) spacer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daqiq, Reza; Ghobadi, Nader

2016-01-01

We study the quantum size effects of an MgO-based double barrier magnetic tunnel junction with a nonmagnetic-metal (DBMTJ-NM) (semiconductor (DBMTJ-SC)) spacer on the charge current and the spin-transfer torque (STT) components using non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism. The results show oscillatory behavior due to the resonant tunneling effect depending on the structure parameters. We find that the charge current and the STT components in the DBMTJ-SC demonstrate the magnitude enhancement in comparison with the DBMTJ-NM. The bias dependence of the STT components in a DBMTJ-NM shows different behavior in comparison with spin valves and conventional MTJs. Therefore, by choosing a specific SC spacer with suitable thickness in a DBMTJ the charge current and the STT components significantly increase so that one can design a device with high STT and faster magnetization switching. - Highlights: • The quantum size effects are studied in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions. • Spin torque (ST) components oscillate for increasing of middle spacer thicknesses. • Due to the resonant tunneling in the quantum well, oscillations have appeared. • By replacement a metal spacer with a semiconductor (ZnO) ST has increased. • The ST components vs. bias show gradually decreasing unlike spin valves or MTJs.

Quantum size effects on spin-transfer torque in a double barrier magnetic tunnel junction with a nonmagnetic-metal (semiconductor) spacer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daqiq, Reza; Ghobadi, Nader

2016-07-15

We study the quantum size effects of an MgO-based double barrier magnetic tunnel junction with a nonmagnetic-metal (DBMTJ-NM) (semiconductor (DBMTJ-SC)) spacer on the charge current and the spin-transfer torque (STT) components using non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism. The results show oscillatory behavior due to the resonant tunneling effect depending on the structure parameters. We find that the charge current and the STT components in the DBMTJ-SC demonstrate the magnitude enhancement in comparison with the DBMTJ-NM. The bias dependence of the STT components in a DBMTJ-NM shows different behavior in comparison with spin valves and conventional MTJs. Therefore, by choosing a specific SC spacer with suitable thickness in a DBMTJ the charge current and the STT components significantly increase so that one can design a device with high STT and faster magnetization switching. - Highlights: • The quantum size effects are studied in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions. • Spin torque (ST) components oscillate for increasing of middle spacer thicknesses. • Due to the resonant tunneling in the quantum well, oscillations have appeared. • By replacement a metal spacer with a semiconductor (ZnO) ST has increased. • The ST components vs. bias show gradually decreasing unlike spin valves or MTJs.

Generation of constant-amplitude radio-frequency sweeps at a tunnel junction for spin resonance STM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paul, William; Lutz, Christopher P.; Heinrich, Andreas J.; Baumann, Susanne

2016-01-01

We describe the measurement and successful compensation of the radio-frequency transfer function of a scanning tunneling microscope over a wide frequency range (15.5–35.5 GHz) and with high dynamic range (>50 dB). The precise compensation of cabling resonances and attenuations is critical for the production of constant-voltage frequency sweeps for electric-field driven electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments. We also demonstrate that a well-calibrated tunnel junction voltage is necessary to avoid spurious ESR peaks that can arise due to a non-flat transfer function.

Generation of constant-amplitude radio-frequency sweeps at a tunnel junction for spin resonance STM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paul, William; Lutz, Christopher P.; Heinrich, Andreas J. [IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120 (United States); Baumann, Susanne [IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120 (United States); Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland)

2016-07-15

We describe the measurement and successful compensation of the radio-frequency transfer function of a scanning tunneling microscope over a wide frequency range (15.5–35.5 GHz) and with high dynamic range (>50 dB). The precise compensation of cabling resonances and attenuations is critical for the production of constant-voltage frequency sweeps for electric-field driven electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments. We also demonstrate that a well-calibrated tunnel junction voltage is necessary to avoid spurious ESR peaks that can arise due to a non-flat transfer function.

Symmetric and Asymmetric Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with Embedded Nanoparticles: Effects of Size Distribution and Temperature on Tunneling Magnetoresistance and Spin Transfer Torque.

Science.gov (United States)

Useinov, Arthur; Lin, Hsiu-Hau; Lai, Chih-Huang

2017-08-21

The problem of the ballistic electron tunneling is considered in magnetic tunnel junction with embedded non-magnetic nanoparticles (NP-MTJ), which creates additional conducting middle layer. The strong temperature impact was found in the system with averaged NP diameter d av  tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) voltage behaviors. The low temperature approach also predicts step-like TMR and quantized in-plane spin transfer torque (STT) effects. The robust asymmetric STT respond is found due to voltage sign inversion in NP-MTJs with barrier asymmetry. Furthermore, it is shown how size distribution of NPs as well as quantization rules modify the spin-current filtering properties of the nanoparticles in ballistic regime. Different quantization rules for the transverse component of the wave vector are considered to overpass the dimensional threshold (d av  ≈ 1.8 nm) between quantum well and bulk-assisted states of the middle layer.

Angular dependence of spin transfer torque on magnetic tunnel junctions with synthetic ferrimagnetic free layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichimura, M; Hamada, T; Imamura, H; Takahashi, S; Maekawa, S

2010-01-01

Based on a spin-polarized free-electron model, spin and charge transports are analyzed in magnetic tunnel junctions with synthetic ferrimagnetic layers in the ballistic regime, and the spin transfer torque is derived. We characterize the synthetic ferrimagnetic free layer by extending an arbitrary direction of magnetizations of the two free layers forming the synthetic ferrimagnetic free layer. The synthetic ferrimagnetic configuration exerts the approximately optimum torque for small magnetization angle of the first layer relative to that of the pinned layer. For approximately anti-parallel magnetization of the first layer to that of the pinned layer, the parallel magnetization of two magnetic layers is favorable for magnetization reversal rather than the synthetic ferrimagnetic configuration.

Fabrication of magnetic tunnel junctions connected through a continuous free layer to enable spin logic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Danny; Manfrini, Mauricio; Vaysset, Adrien; Souriau, Laurent; Wouters, Lennaert; Thiam, Arame; Raymenants, Eline; Sayan, Safak; Jussot, Julien; Swerts, Johan; Couet, Sebastien; Rassoul, Nouredine; Babaei Gavan, Khashayar; Paredis, Kristof; Huyghebaert, Cedric; Ercken, Monique; Wilson, Christopher J.; Mocuta, Dan; Radu, Iuliana P.

2018-04-01

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) interconnected via a continuous ferromagnetic free layer were fabricated for spin torque majority gate (STMG) logic. The MTJs are biased independently and show magnetoelectric response under spin transfer torque. The electrical control of these devices paves the way to future spin logic devices based on domain wall (DW) motion. In particular, it is a significant step towards the realization of a majority gate. To our knowledge, this is the first fabrication of a cross-shaped free layer shared by several perpendicular MTJs. The fabrication process can be generalized to any geometry and any number of MTJs. Thus, this framework can be applied to other spin logic concepts based on magnetic interconnect. Moreover, it allows exploration of spin dynamics for logic applications.

Electrically tunable tunneling rectification magnetoresistance in magnetic tunneling junctions with asymmetric barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Huang, Qikun; Shi, Peng; Zhang, Kun; Tian, Yufeng; Yan, Shishen; Chen, Yanxue; Liu, Guolei; Kang, Shishou; Mei, Liangmo

2017-10-26

The development of multifunctional spintronic devices requires simultaneous control of multiple degrees of freedom of electrons, such as charge, spin and orbit, and especially a new physical functionality can be realized by combining two or more different physical mechanisms in one specific device. Here, we report the realization of novel tunneling rectification magnetoresistance (TRMR), where the charge-related rectification and spin-dependent tunneling magnetoresistance are integrated in Co/CoO-ZnO/Co magnetic tunneling junctions with asymmetric tunneling barriers. Moreover, by simultaneously applying direct current and alternating current to the devices, the TRMR has been remarkably tuned in the range from -300% to 2200% at low temperature. This proof-of-concept investigation provides an unexplored avenue towards electrical and magnetic control of charge and spin, which may apply to other heterojunctions to give rise to more fascinating emergent functionalities for future spintronics applications.

Large spin accumulation due to spin-charge coupling across a break-junction

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shuhan; Zou, Han; Chui, Siu-Tat; Ji, Yi

2013-03-01

We investigate large spin signals in break-junction nonlocal spin valves (NLSV). The break-junction is a nanometer-sized vacuum tunneling gap between the spin detector and the nonmagnetic channel, formed by electro-static discharge. The spin signals can be either inverted or non-inverted and the magnitudes are much larger than those of standard NLSV. Spin signals with high percentage values (10% - 0%) have been observed. When the frequency of the a.c. modulation is varied, the absolute magnitudes of signals remain the same although the percentage values change. These observations affirm the nonlocal nature of the measurements and rule out local magnetoresistive effects. Owing to the spin-charge coupling across the break-junction, the spin accumulation in a ferromagnet splits into two terms. One term decays on the charge screening length (0.1 nm) and the other decays on the spin diffusion length (10 nm nm). The magnitude of the former is proportional to the resistance of the junction. Therefore a highly resistive break-junction leads to a large spin accumulation and thereby a large spin signal. The signs of the spin signal are determined by the relationship between spin-dependent conductivities, diffusion constants, and density of states of the ferromagnet. This work was supported by US DOE grant No. DE-FG02-07ER46374.

Investigating spin-transfer torques induced by thermal gradients in magnetic tunnel junctions by using micro-cavity ferromagnetic resonance

Science.gov (United States)

Cansever, H.; Narkowicz, R.; Lenz, K.; Fowley, C.; Ramasubramanian, L.; Yildirim, O.; Niesen, A.; Huebner, T.; Reiss, G.; Lindner, J.; Fassbender, J.; Deac, A. M.

2018-06-01

Similar to electrical currents flowing through magnetic multilayers, thermal gradients applied across the barrier of a magnetic tunnel junction may induce pure spin-currents and generate ‘thermal’ spin-transfer torques large enough to induce magnetization dynamics in the free layer. In this study, we describe a novel experimental approach to observe spin-transfer torques induced by thermal gradients in magnetic multilayers by studying their ferromagnetic resonance response in microwave cavities. Utilizing this approach allows for measuring the magnetization dynamics on micron/nano-sized samples in open-circuit conditions, i.e. without the need of electrical contacts. We performed first experiments on magnetic tunnel junctions patterned into 6  ×  9 µm2 ellipses from Co2FeAl/MgO/CoFeB stacks. We conducted microresonator ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) under focused laser illumination to induce thermal gradients in the layer stack and compared them to measurements in which the sample was globally heated from the backside of the substrate. Moreover, we carried out broadband FMR measurements under global heating conditions on the same extended films the microstructures were later on prepared from. The results clearly demonstrate the effect of thermal spin-torque on the FMR response and thus show that the microresonator approach is well suited to investigate thermal spin-transfer-driven processes for small temperatures gradients, far below the gradients required for magnetic switching.

Spin-polarized inelastic tunneling through insulating barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Y; Tran, M; Jaffrès, H; Seneor, P; Deranlot, C; Petroff, F; George, J-M; Lépine, B; Ababou, S; Jézéquel, G

2009-05-01

Spin-conserving hopping transport through chains of localized states has been evidenced by taking benefit of the high degree of spin-polarization of CoFeB-MgO-CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions. In particular, our data show that relatively thick MgO barriers doped with boron favor the activation of spin-conserving inelastic channels through a chain of three localized states and leading to reduced magnetoresistance effects. We propose an extension of the Glazman-Matveev theory to the case of ferromagnetic reservoirs to account for spin-polarized inelastic tunneling through nonmagnetic localized states embedded in an insulating barrier.

Resonant tunnel magnetoresistance in a double magnetic tunnel junction

KAUST Repository

Useinov, Arthur

2011-08-09

We present quasi-classical approach to calculate a spin-dependent current and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in double magnetic tunnel junctions (DMTJ) FML/I/FMW/I/FMR, where the magnetization of the middle ferromagnetic metal layer FMW can be aligned parallel or antiparallel with respect to the fixed magnetizations of the left FML and right FMR ferromagnetic electrodes. The transmission coefficients for components of the spin-dependent current, and TMR are calculated as a function of the applied voltage. As a result, we found a high resonant TMR. Thus, DMTJ can serve as highly effective magnetic nanosensor for biological applications, or as magnetic memory cells by switching the magnetization of the inner ferromagnetic layer FMW.© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.

Manipulating the voltage dependence of tunneling spin torques

KAUST Repository

Manchon, Aurelien

2012-01-01

Voltage-driven spin transfer torques in magnetic tunnel junctions provide an outstanding tool to design advanced spin-based devices for memory and reprogrammable logic applications. The non-linear voltage dependence of the torque has a direct impact

Asymmetric voltage behavior of the tunnel magnetoresistance in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Useinov, Arthur

2012-06-01

In this paper, we study the value of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) as a function of the applied voltage in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions (DMTJs) with the left and right ferromagnetic (FM) layers being pinned and numerically estimate the possible difference of the TMR curves for negative and positive voltages in the homojunctions (equal barriers and electrodes). DMTJs are modeled as two single barrier junctions connected in series with consecutive tunneling (CST). We investigated the asymmetric voltage behavior of the TMR for the CST in the range of a general theoretical model. Significant asymmetries of the experimental curves, which arise due to different annealing regimes, are mostly explained by different heights of the tunnel barriers and asymmetries of spin polarizations in magnetic layers. © (2012) Trans Tech Publications.

Asymmetric voltage behavior of the tunnel magnetoresistance in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Useinov, Arthur; Gooneratne, Chinthaka Pasan; Kosel, Jü rgen

2012-01-01

In this paper, we study the value of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) as a function of the applied voltage in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions (DMTJs) with the left and right ferromagnetic (FM) layers being pinned and numerically estimate the possible difference of the TMR curves for negative and positive voltages in the homojunctions (equal barriers and electrodes). DMTJs are modeled as two single barrier junctions connected in series with consecutive tunneling (CST). We investigated the asymmetric voltage behavior of the TMR for the CST in the range of a general theoretical model. Significant asymmetries of the experimental curves, which arise due to different annealing regimes, are mostly explained by different heights of the tunnel barriers and asymmetries of spin polarizations in magnetic layers. © (2012) Trans Tech Publications.

Laser-assisted spin-polarized transport in graphene tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Kaihe; Zhu Zhengang; Berakdar, Jamal

2012-01-01

The Keldysh nonequilibrium Green’s function method is utilized to theoretically study spin-polarized transport through a graphene spin valve irradiated by a monochromatic laser field. It is found that the bias dependence of the differential conductance exhibits successive peaks corresponding to the resonant tunneling through the photon-assisted sidebands. The multi-photon processes originate from the combined effects of the radiation field and the graphene tunneling properties, and are shown to be substantially suppressed in a graphene spin valve which results in a decrease of the differential conductance for a high bias voltage. We also discuss the appearance of a dynamical gap around zero bias due to the radiation field. The gap width can be tuned by changing the radiation electric field strength and the frequency. This leads to a shift of the resonant peaks in the differential conductance. We also demonstrate numerically the dependences of the radiation and spin valve effects on the parameters of the external fields and those of the electrodes. We find that the combined effects of the radiation field, the graphene and the spin valve properties bring about an oscillatory behavior in the tunnel magnetoresistance, and this oscillatory amplitude can be changed by scanning the radiation field strength and/or the frequency. (paper)

Macroscopic quantum tunneling in Josephson tunnel junctions and Coulomb blockade in single small tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleland, A.N.

1991-04-01

Experiments investigating the process of macroscopic quantum tunneling in a moderately-damped, resistively shunted, Josephson junction are described, followed by a discussion of experiments performed on very small capacitance normal-metal tunnel junctions. The experiments on the resistively-shunted Josephson junction were designed to investigate a quantum process, that of the tunneling of the Josephson phase variable under a potential barrier, in a system in which dissipation plays a major role in the dynamics of motion. All the parameters of the junction were measured using the classical phenomena of thermal activation and resonant activation. Theoretical predictions are compared with the experimental results, showing good agreement with no adjustable parameters; the tunneling rate in the moderately damped (Q ∼ 1) junction is seen to be reduced by a factor of 300 from that predicted for an undamped junction. The phase is seen to be a good quantum-mechanical variable. The experiments on small capacitance tunnel junctions extend the measurements on the larger-area Josephson junctions from the region in which the phase variable has a fairly well-defined value, i.e. its wavefunction has a narrow width, to the region where its value is almost completely unknown. The charge on the junction becomes well-defined and is predicted to quantize the current through the junction, giving rise to the Coulomb blockade at low bias. I present the first clear observation of the Coulomb blockade in single junctions. The electrical environment of the tunnel junction, however, strongly affects the behavior of the junction: higher resistance leads are observed to greatly sharpen the Coulomb blockade over that seen with lower resistance leads. I present theoretical descriptions of how the environment influences the junctions; comparisons with the experimental results are in reasonable agreement

Magneto-Seebeck effect in magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keyu Ning

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As one invigorated filed of spin caloritronics combining with spin, charge and heat current, the magneto-Seebeck effect has been experimentally and theoretically studied in spin tunneling thin films and nanostructures. Here we analyze the tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect in magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy (p-MTJs under various measurement temperatures. The large tunnel magneto-Seebeck (TMS ratio up to −838.8% for p-MTJs at 200 K is achieved, with Seebeck coefficient S in parallel and antiparallel states of 6.7 mV/K and 62.9 mV/K, respectively. The temperature dependence of the tunnel magneto-Seebeck can be attributed to the contributing transmission function and electron states at the interface between CoFeB electrode and MgO barrier.

Spin-polarized electron tunneling in bcc FeCo/MgO/FeCo(001) magnetic tunnel junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonell, F; Hauet, T; Andrieu, S; Bertran, F; Le Fèvre, P; Calmels, L; Tejeda, A; Montaigne, F; Warot-Fonrose, B; Belhadji, B; Nicolaou, A; Taleb-Ibrahimi, A

2012-04-27

In combining spin- and symmetry-resolved photoemission, magnetotransport measurements and ab initio calculations we detangled the electronic states involved in the electronic transport in Fe(1-x)Co(x)(001)/MgO/Fe(1-x)Co(x)(001) magnetic tunnel junctions. Contrary to previous theoretical predictions, we observe a large reduction in TMR (from 530 to 200% at 20 K) for Co content above 25 atomic% as well as anomalies in the conductance curves. We demonstrate that these unexpected behaviors originate from a minority spin state with Δ(1) symmetry that exists below the Fermi level for high Co concentration. Using angle-resolved photoemission, this state is shown to be a two-dimensional state that occurs at both Fe(1-x)Co(x)(001) free surface, and more importantly at the interface with MgO. The combination of this interface state with the peculiar density of empty states due to chemical disorder allows us to describe in details the complex conduction behavior in this system.

Tunneling-Magnetoresistance Ratio Comparison of MgO-Based Perpendicular-Magnetic-Tunneling-Junction Spin Valve Between Top and Bottom Co2Fe6B2 Free Layer Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Du-Yeong; Lee, Seung-Eun; Shim, Tae-Hun; Park, Jea-Gun

2016-12-01

For the perpendicular-magnetic-tunneling-junction (p-MTJ) spin valve with a nanoscale-thick bottom Co2Fe6B2 free layer ex situ annealed at 400 °C, which has been used as a common p-MTJ structure, the Pt atoms of the Pt buffer layer diffused into the MgO tunneling barrier. This transformed the MgO tunneling barrier from a body-centered cubic (b.c.c) crystallized layer into a mixture of b.c.c, face-centered cubic, and amorphous layers and rapidly decreased the tunneling-magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio. The p-MTJ spin valve with a nanoscale-thick top Co2Fe6B2 free layer could prevent the Pt atoms diffusing into the MgO tunneling barrier during ex situ annealing at 400 °C because of non-necessity of a Pt buffer layer, demonstrating the TMR ratio of ~143 %.

SPICE modelling of magnetic tunnel junctions written by spin-transfer torque

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, W; Prenat, G; De Mestier, N; Baraduc, C; Dieny, B [SPINTEC, UMR(8191), INAC, CEA/CNRS/UJF, 17 Av. des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Javerliac, V; El Baraji, M, E-mail: guillaume.prenat@cea.f [CROCUS Technology, 5 Place Robert Schuman, 38025 Grenoble (France)

2010-06-02

Spintronics aims at extending the possibility of conventional electronics by using not only the charge of the electron but also its spin. The resulting spintronic devices, combining the front-end complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology of electronics with a magnetic back-end technology, employ magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) as core elements. With the intent of simulating a circuit without fabricating it first, a reliable MTJ electrical model which is applicable to the standard SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) simulator is required. Since such a model was lacking so far, we present a MTJ SPICE model whose magnetic state is written by using the spin-transfer torque effect. This model has been developed in the C language and validated on the Cadence Virtuoso Platform with a Spectre simulator. Its operation is similar to that of the standard BSIM (Berkeley Short-channel IGFET Model) SPICE model of the MOS transistor and fully compatible with the SPICE electrical simulator. The simulation results obtained using this model have been found in good accord with those theoretical macrospin calculations and results.

Tunnel magnetoresistance in alumina, magnesia and composite tunnel barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schebaum, Oliver; Drewello, Volker; Auge, Alexander; Reiss, Guenter; Muenzenberg, Markus; Schuhmann, Henning; Seibt, Michael; Thomas, Andy

2011-01-01

Using magnetron sputtering, we have prepared Co-Fe-B/tunnel barrier/Co-Fe-B magnetic tunnel junctions with tunnel barriers consisting of alumina, magnesia, and magnesia-alumina bilayer systems. The highest tunnel magnetoresistance ratios we found were 73% for alumina and 323% for magnesia-based tunnel junctions. Additionally, tunnel junctions with a unified layer stack were prepared for the three different barriers. In these systems, the tunnel magnetoresistance ratios at optimum annealing temperatures were found to be 65% for alumina, 173% for magnesia, and 78% for the composite tunnel barriers. The similar tunnel magnetoresistance ratios of the tunnel junctions containing alumina provide evidence that coherent tunneling is suppressed by the alumina layer in the composite tunnel barrier. - Research highlights: → Transport properties of Co-Fe-B/tunnel barrier/Co-Fe-B magnetic tunnel junctions. → Tunnel barrier consists of MgO, Al-Ox, or MgO/Al-Ox bilayer systems. → Limitation of TMR-ratio in composite barrier tunnel junctions to Al-Ox values. → Limitation indicates that Al-Ox layer is causing incoherent tunneling.

Electrical control of memristance and magnetoresistance in oxide magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Kun; Cao, Yan-ling; Fang, Yue-wen; Li, Qiang; Zhang, Jie; Duan, Chun-gang; Yan, Shi-shen; Tian, Yu-feng; Huang, Rong; Zheng, Rong-kun; Kang, Shi-shou; Chen, Yan-xue; Liu, Guo-lei; Mei, Liang-mo

2015-01-01

, and exchange bias in Co/CoO–ZnO/Co magnetic tunnel junctions, which enables the realization of four nonvolatile resistance states. Moreover, greatly enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance of 68% was observed due to the enhanced spin polarization of the bottom Co/Co

Spin Tunneling in Junctions with Disordered Ferromagnets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paluskar, P.V.; Attema, J.J.; de Wijs, G.A.; Fiddy, S.; Snoeck, E.; Kohlhepp, J.T.; Swagten, H.J.M.; de Groot, R. A.; Koopmans, H.

2008-01-01

We provide compelling evidence to establish that, contrary to one’s elementary guess, the tunneling spin polarization (TSP) of amorphous CoFeB is larger than that of fcc CoFeB. First-principles atomic and electronic structure calculations reveal striking agreement between the measured TSP and the

Tunneling Conductance in Ferromagnetic Metal/Normal Metal/Spin-Singlet -Wave Ferromagnetic Superconductor Junctions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamidreza Emamipour

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In the framework of scattering theory, we study the tunneling conductance in a system including two junctions, ferromagnetic metal/normal metal/ferromagnetic superconductor, where ferromagnetic superconductor is in spin-singlet -wave pairing state. The non-magnetic normal metal is placed in the intermediate layer with the thickness ( which varies from 1 nm to 10000 nm. The interesting result which we have found is the existence of oscillations in conductance curves. The period of oscillations is independent of FS and FN exchange field while it depends on . The obtained results can serve as a useful tool to determine the kind of pairing symmetry in ferromagnetic superconductors.

A novel macro-model for spin-transfer-torque based magnetic-tunnel-junction elements

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seungyeon; Lee, Hyunjoo; Kim, Sojeong; Lee, Seungjun; Shin, Hyungsoon

2010-04-01

Spin-transfer-torque (STT) switching in magnetic-tunnel-junction (MTJ) has important merits over the conventional field induced magnetic switching (FIMS) MRAM in avoiding half-select problem, and improving scalability and selectivity. Design of MRAM circuitry using STT-based MTJ elements requires an accurate circuit model which exactly emulates the characteristics of an MTJ in a circuit simulator such as HSPICE. This work presents a novel macro-model that fully emulates the important characteristics of STT-based MTJ. The macro-model is realized as a three terminal sub-circuit that reproduces asymmetric resistance versus current (R-I) characteristics and temperature dependence of R-I hysteresis of STT-based MTJ element.

Magnetization switching driven by spin-transfer-torque in high-TMR magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aurelio, D.; Torres, L.; Finocchio, G.

2009-01-01

This paper presents a numerical study of magnetization switching driven by spin-polarized current in high-TMR magnetic tunnel junctions (TMR>100%). The current density distribution throughout the free-layer is computed dynamically, by modeling the ferromagnet/insulator/ferromagnet trilayer as a series of parallel resistances. The validity of the main hypothesis, which states that the current flows perpendicular to the sample plane, has been verified by numerically solving the Poisson equation. Our results show that the nonuniform current density distribution is a source of asymmetry to the switching process. Furthermore, we observe that the reversal mechanisms are characterized by well-defined localized pre-switching oscillation modes.

Tunable spin-tunnel contacts to silicon using low-work-function ferromagnets

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Byoung-Chul; Motohashi, Kazunari; Lodder, Cock; Jansen, Ron

2006-10-01

Magnetic tunnel junctions have become ubiquitous components appearing in magnetic random-access memory, read heads of magnetic disk drives and semiconductor-based spin devices. Inserting a tunnel barrier has been key to achieving spin injection from ferromagnetic (FM) metals into GaAs, but spin injection into Si has remained elusive. We show that Schottky barrier formation leads to a huge conductivity mismatch of the FM tunnel contact and Si, which cannot be solved by the well-known method of adjusting the tunnel barrier thickness. We present a radically different approach for spin-tunnelling resistance control using low-work-function ferromagnets, inserted at the FM/tunnel barrier interface. We demonstrate that in this way the resistance-area (RA) product of FM/Al2O3/Si contacts can be tuned over eight orders of magnitude, while simultaneously maintaining a reasonable tunnel spin polarization. This raises prospects for Si-based spintronics and presents a new category of ferromagnetic materials for spin-tunnel contacts in low-RA-product applications.

Macroscopic quantum tunneling in Josephson tunnel junctions and Coulomb blockade in single small tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleland, A.N.

1991-01-01

Experiments investigated the process of macroscopic quantum tunneling in a moderately-damped, resistively shunted, Josephson junction are described, followed by a discussion of experiments performed on very-small-capacitance normal-metal tunnel junctions. The experiments on the resistively-shunted Josephson junction were designed to investigate a quantum process, that of the tunneling of the Josephson-phase variable under a potential barrier, in a system in which dissipation plays a major role in the dynamics of motion. All the parameters of the junction were measured using the classical phenomena of thermal activation and resonant activation. Theoretical predictions are compared with the experimental results, showing good agreement with no adjustable parameters. The experiments on small-capacitance tunnel junctions extend the measurements on the large-area Josephson junctions from the region in which the phase variable has a fairly well-defined value, i.e. its wave function has a narrow width, to the region where its value is almost completely unknown. The charge on the junction becomes well-defined and is predicted to quantize the current through the junction, giving rise to the Coulomb blockade at low bias

Tuning spin transport across two-dimensional organometallic junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shuanglong; Wang, Yun-Peng; Li, Xiangguo; Fry, James N.; Cheng, Hai-Ping

2018-01-01

We study via first-principles modeling and simulation two-dimensional spintronic junctions made of metal-organic frameworks consisting of two Mn-phthalocyanine ferromagnetic metal leads and semiconducting Ni-phthalocyanine channels of various lengths. These systems exhibit a large tunneling magnetoresistance ratio; the transmission functions of such junctions can be tuned using gate voltage by three orders of magnitude. We find that the origin of this drastic change lies in the orbital alignment and hybridization between the leads and the center electronic states. With physical insight into the observed on-off phenomenon, we predict a gate-controlled spin current switch based on two-dimensional crystallines and offer general guidelines for designing spin junctions using 2D materials.

A review on all-perovskite multiferroic tunnel junctions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuewei Yin

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Although the basic concept was proposed only about 10 years ago, multiferroic tunnel junctions (MFTJs with a ferroelectric barrier sandwiched between two ferromagnetic electrodes have already drawn considerable interests, driven mainly by its potential applications in multi-level memories and electric field controlled spintronics. The purpose of this article is to review the recent progress of all-perovskite MFTJs. Starting from the key functional properties of the tunneling magnetoresistance, tunneling electroresistance, and tunneling electromagnetoresistance effects, we discuss the main origins of the tunneling electroresistance effect, recent progress in achieving multilevel resistance states in a single device, and the electrical control of spin polarization and transport through the ferroelectric polarization reversal of the tunneling barrier.

Joule heating and spin-transfer torque investigated on the atomic scale using a spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscope.

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, S; Herzog, G; Schlenhoff, A; Sonntag, A; Wiesendanger, R

2011-10-28

The influence of a high spin-polarized tunnel current onto the switching behavior of a superparamagnetic nanoisland on a nonmagnetic substrate is investigated by means of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy. A detailed lifetime analysis allows for a quantification of the effective temperature rise of the nanoisland and the modification of the activation energy barrier for magnetization reversal, thereby using the nanoisland as a local thermometer and spin-transfer torque analyzer. Both the Joule heating and spin-transfer torque are found to scale linearly with the tunnel current. The results are compared to experiments performed on lithographically fabricated magneto-tunnel junctions, revealing a very high spin-transfer torque switching efficiency in our experiments.

Radio-frequency shot-noise measurement in a magnetic tunnel junction with a MgO barrier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehman, Mushtaq; Park, Junghwan; Song, Woon; Chong, Yonuk; Lee, Yeonsub; Min, Byoungchul; Shin, Kyungho; Ryu, Sangwan; Khim, Zheong

2010-01-01

We measured the noise power of a magnetic tunnel junction in the frequency range of 710 ∼ 1200 MHz. A low-noise cryogenic HEMT amplifier was used to measure the small noise signal at a high frequency with wide bandwidth. The MgO-barrier tunnel junction showed large tunnel magnetoresistance ratio of 215% at low temperature, which indicates electronic transport through the tunnel barrier without any significant spin-flip scattering. In the bias-dependent noise measurement, however, the zero-bias shot noise was enhanced compared to the value expected from a perfect tunnel barrier or the value observed from a good Al-AlO x -Al tunnel junction. We assume that this enhanced noise comes from inelastic tunneling processes through the barrier, which may be related to the observed zero-bias anomaly in the differential resistance of the tunnel junctions. We present a simple phenomenological model for how the inelastic scattering process can enhance the zero-bias noise in a tunnel junction.

Construction of van der Waals magnetic tunnel junction using ferromagnetic layered dichalcogenide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arai, Miho; Moriya, Rai, E-mail: moriyar@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp; Yabuki, Naoto; Masubuchi, Satoru [Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Ueno, Keiji [Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama 338-8570 (Japan); Machida, Tomoki, E-mail: tmachida@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Institute for Nano Quantum Information Electronics, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan)

2015-09-07

We investigate the micromechanical exfoliation and van der Waals (vdW) assembly of ferromagnetic layered dichalcogenide Fe{sub 0.25}TaS{sub 2}. The vdW interlayer coupling at the Fe-intercalated plane of Fe{sub 0.25}TaS{sub 2} allows exfoliation of flakes. A vdW junction between the cleaved crystal surfaces is constructed by dry transfer method. We observe tunnel magnetoresistance in the resulting junction under an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plane, demonstrating spin-polarized tunneling between the ferromagnetic layered material and the vdW junction.

Fast Low-Current Spin-Orbit-Torque Switching of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions through Atomic Modifications of the Free-Layer Interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Shengjie; Ou, Yongxi; Aradhya, S. V.; Ralph, D. C.; Buhrman, R. A.

2018-01-01

Future applications of spin-orbit torque will require new mechanisms to improve the efficiency of switching nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), while also controlling the magnetic dynamics to achieve fast nanosecond-scale performance with low-write-error rates. Here, we demonstrate a strategy to simultaneously enhance the interfacial magnetic anisotropy energy and suppress interfacial spin-memory loss by introducing subatomic and monatomic layers of Hf at the top and bottom interfaces of the ferromagnetic free layer of an in-plane magnetized three-terminal MTJ device. When combined with a β -W spin Hall channel that generates spin-orbit torque, the cumulative effect is a switching current density of 5.4 ×106 A /cm2 .

Electrical control of memristance and magnetoresistance in oxide magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Kun

2015-01-01

Electric-field control of magnetic and transport properties of magnetic tunnel junctions has promising applications in spintronics. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a reversible electrical manipulation of memristance, magnetoresistance, and exchange bias in Co/CoO–ZnO/Co magnetic tunnel junctions, which enables the realization of four nonvolatile resistance states. Moreover, greatly enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance of 68% was observed due to the enhanced spin polarization of the bottom Co/CoO interface. The ab initio calculations further indicate that the spin polarization of the Co/CoO interface is as high as 73% near the Fermi level and plenty of oxygen vacancies can induce metal–insulator transition of the CoO1−v layer. Thus, the electrical manipulation mechanism on the memristance, magnetoresistance and exchange bias can be attributed to the electric-field-driven migration of oxygen ions/vacancies between very thin CoO and ZnO layers.

Spin polarized tunnelling investigation of nanometre Co clusters by means of a Ni bulk tip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rastei, M V; Bucher, J P

2006-01-01

A massive Ni tip is used in spin polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy (SP STM) to explore the magnetization state of nanometre Co clusters, self-organized on the Au(111) surface. Constant current STM images taken at 4.6 K show a bimodal distribution of the cluster heights, accounting for the spin polarization of the STM junction. The spin polarization of the tunnel junction as a function of the bias voltage is found to depend on the local density of states of the sample examined. Changing the vacuum barrier parameters by bringing the tip closer to the surface leads to a reduction in the tunnelling magnetoresistance that may be attributed to spin flip effects. (letter to the editor)

Electronic noise of superconducting tunnel junction detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jochum, J.; Kraus, H.; Gutsche, M.; Kemmather, B.; Feilitzsch, F. v.; Moessbauer, R.L.

1994-01-01

The optimal signal to noise ratio for detectors based on superconducting tunnel junctions is calculated and compared for the cases of a detector consisting of one single tunnel junction, as well as of series and of parallel connections of such tunnel junctions. The influence of 1 / f noise and its dependence on the dynamical resistance of tunnel junctions is discussed quantitatively. A single tunnel junction yields the minimum equivalent noise charge. Such a tunnel junction exhibits the best signal to noise ratio if the signal charge is independent of detector size. In case, signal charge increases with detector size, a parallel or a series connection of tunnel junctions would provide the optimum signal to noise ratio. The equivalent noise charge and the respective signal to noise ratio are deduced as functions of tunnel junction parameters such as tunneling time, quasiparticle lifetime, etc. (orig.)

Electron transport and noise spectroscopy in organic magnetic tunnel junctions with PTCDA and Alq3 barriers

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Isidoro; Cascales, Juan Pedro; Hong, Jhen-Yong; Lin, Minn-Tsong; Prezioso, Mirko; Riminucci, Alberto; Dediu, Valentin A.; Aliev, Farkhad G.

2016-10-01

The possible influence of internal barrier dynamics on spin, charge transport and their fluctuations in organic spintronics remains poorly understood. Here we present investigation of the electron transport and low frequency noise at temperatures down to 0.3K in magnetic tunnel junctions with an organic PTCDA barriers with thickness up to 5 nm in the tunneling regime and with 200 nm thick Alq3 barrier in the hopping regime. We observed high tunneling magneto-resistance at low temperatures (15-40%) and spin dependent super-poissonian shot noise in organic magnetic tunnel junctions (OMTJs) with PTCDA. The Fano factor exceeds 1.5-2 values which could be caused by interfacial states controlled by spin dependent bunching in the tunneling events through the molecules.1 The bias dependence of the low frequency noise in OMTJs with PTCDA barriers which includes both 1/f and random telegraph noise activated at specific biases will also be discussed. On the other hand, the organic junctions with ferromagnetic electrodes and thick Alq3 barriers present sub-poissonian shot noise which depends on the temperature, indicative of variable range hopping.

Chiral tunneling of topological states: towards the efficient generation of spin current using spin-momentum locking.

Science.gov (United States)

Habib, K M Masum; Sajjad, Redwan N; Ghosh, Avik W

2015-05-01

We show that the interplay between chiral tunneling and spin-momentum locking of helical surface states leads to spin amplification and filtering in a 3D topological insulator (TI). Our calculations show that the chiral tunneling across a TI pn junction allows normally incident electrons to transmit, while the rest are reflected with their spins flipped due to spin-momentum locking. The net result is that the spin current is enhanced while the dissipative charge current is simultaneously suppressed, leading to an extremely large, gate-tunable spin-to-charge current ratio (∼20) at the reflected end. At the transmitted end, the ratio stays close to 1 and the electrons are completely spin polarized.

Effect of asymmetric interface on charge and spin transport across two dimensional electron gas with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling/ferromagnet junction

Science.gov (United States)

Srisongmuang, B.; Pasanai, K.

2018-04-01

We theoretically studied the effect of interfacial scattering on the transport of charge and spin across the junction of a two-dimensional electron gas with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling and ferromagnetic material junction, via the conductance (G) and the spin-polarization of the conductance spectra (P) using the scattering method. At the interface, not only were the effects of spin-conserving (Z0) and spin-flip scattering (Zf) considered, but also the interfacial Rashba spin-orbit coupling scattering (ZRSOC) , which was caused by the asymmetry of the interface, was taken into account, and all of them were modeled by the delta potential. It was found that G was suppressed with increasing Z0 , as expected. Interestingly, a particular value of Zf can cause G and P to reach a maximum value. In particular, ZRSOC plays a crucial role to reduce G and P in the metallic limit, but its influence on the tunneling limit was quite weak. On the other hand, the effect of ZRSOC was diminished in the tunneling limit of the magnetic junction.

Magnetic field manipulation of spin current in a single-molecule magnet tunnel junction with two-electron Coulomb interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chao; Yao, Hui; Nie, Yi-Hang; Liang, Jiu-Qing; Niu, Peng-Bin

2018-04-01

In this work, we study the generation of spin-current in a single-molecule magnet (SMM) tunnel junction with Coulomb interaction of transport electrons and external magnetic field. In the absence of field the spin-up and -down currents are symmetric with respect to the initial polarizations of molecule. The existence of magnetic field breaks the time-reversal symmetry, which leads to unsymmetrical spin currents of parallel and antiparallel polarizations. Both the amplitude and polarization direction of spin current can be controlled by the applied magnetic field. Particularly when the magnetic field increases to a certain value the spin-current with antiparallel polarization is reversed along with the magnetization reversal of the SMM. The two-electron occupation indeed enhances the transport current compared with the single-electron process. However the increase of Coulomb interaction results in the suppression of spin-current amplitude at the electron-hole symmetry point. We propose a scheme to compensate the suppression with the magnetic field.

Large Magnetoresistance at Room Temperature in Organic Molecular Tunnel Junctions with Nonmagnetic Electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Zuoti; Shi, Sha; Liu, Feilong; Smith, Darryl L; Ruden, P Paul; Frisbie, C Daniel

2016-09-27

We report room-temperature resistance changes of up to 30% under weak magnetic fields (0.1 T) for molecular tunnel junctions composed of oligophenylene thiol molecules, 1-2 nm in length, sandwiched between gold contacts. The magnetoresistance (MR) is independent of field orientation and the length of the molecule; it appears to be an interface effect. Theoretical analysis suggests that the source of the MR is a two-carrier (two-hole) interaction at the interface, resulting in spin coupling between the tunneling hole and a localized hole at the Au/molecule contact. Such coupling leads to significantly different singlet and triplet transmission barriers at the interface. Even weak magnetic fields impede spin relaxation processes and thus modify the ratio of holes tunneling via the singlet state versus the triplet state, which leads to the large MR. Overall, the experiments and analysis suggest significant opportunities to explore large MR effects in molecular tunnel junctions based on widely available molecules.

Impurity-induced tuning of quantum-well States in spin-dependent resonant tunneling.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalitsov, Alan; Coho, A; Kioussis, Nicholas; Vedyayev, Anatoly; Chshiev, M; Granovsky, A

2004-07-23

We report exact model calculations of the spin-dependent tunneling in double magnetic tunnel junctions in the presence of impurities in the well. We show that the impurity can tune selectively the spin channels giving rise to a wide variety of interesting and novel transport phenomena. The tunneling magnetoresistance, the spin polarization, and the local current can be dramatically enhanced or suppressed by impurities. The underlying mechanism is the impurity-induced shift of the quantum well states (QWSs), which depends on the impurity potential, impurity position, and the symmetry of the QWS. Copyright 2004 The American Physical Society

Zero-field spin transfer oscillators based on magnetic tunnel junction having perpendicular polarizer and planar free layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bin Fang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We experimentally studied spin-transfer-torque induced magnetization oscillations in an asymmetric MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction device consisting of an in-plane magnetized free layer and an out-of-plane magnetized polarizer. A steady auto-oscillation was achieved at zero magnetic field and room temperature, with an oscillation frequency that was strongly dependent on bias currents, with a large frequency tunability of 1.39 GHz/mA. Our results suggest that this new structure has a high potential for new microwave device designs.

Current-induced magnetization switching in atom-thick tungsten engineered perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with large tunnel magnetoresistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mengxing; Cai, Wenlong; Cao, Kaihua; Zhou, Jiaqi; Wrona, Jerzy; Peng, Shouzhong; Yang, Huaiwen; Wei, Jiaqi; Kang, Wang; Zhang, Youguang; Langer, Jürgen; Ocker, Berthold; Fert, Albert; Zhao, Weisheng

2018-02-14

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions based on MgO/CoFeB structures are of particular interest for magnetic random-access memories because of their excellent thermal stability, scaling potential, and power dissipation. However, the major challenge of current-induced switching in the nanopillars with both a large tunnel magnetoresistance ratio and a low junction resistance is still to be met. Here, we report spin transfer torque switching in nano-scale perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with a magnetoresistance ratio up to 249% and a resistance area product as low as 7.0 Ω µm 2 , which consists of atom-thick W layers and double MgO/CoFeB interfaces. The efficient resonant tunnelling transmission induced by the atom-thick W layers could contribute to the larger magnetoresistance ratio than conventional structures with Ta layers, in addition to the robustness of W layers against high-temperature diffusion during annealing. The critical switching current density could be lower than 3.0 MA cm -2 for devices with a 45-nm radius.

Spin–transfer torque oscillator in magnetic tunneling junction with short–wavelength magnon excitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shizhu Qiao

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Bloch–Bloembergen–Slonczewski (BBS equation is established by extending Bloch–Bloembergen equation, and it is used to study magnetization oscillation in the free magnetic layer of a magnetic tunneling junction. Since both short–wavelength magnon excitation and spin–transfer torque are taken into account in the BBS equation, it is distinguished from Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert–Slonczewski equation. The macro–spin BBS model predicts that the transverse relaxation time in free magnetic layer should be long enough, as compared with the longitudinal relaxation time, to achieve stable magnetization oscillation for spin–transfer torque oscillator application. Moreover, field–like torque favors the tolerance of fast transverse relaxation, which makes magnetic tunneling junction a better choice than spin valve for the spin–transfer torque oscillator application.

Strain-enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Loong, Li Ming; Qiu, Xuepeng; Neo, Zhi Peng; Deorani, Praveen; Wu, Yang; Bhatia, Charanjit S; Saeys, Mark; Yang, Hyunsoo

2014-09-30

While the effects of lattice mismatch-induced strain, mechanical strain, as well as the intrinsic strain of thin films are sometimes detrimental, resulting in mechanical deformation and failure, strain can also be usefully harnessed for applications such as data storage, transistors, solar cells, and strain gauges, among other things. Here, we demonstrate that quantum transport across magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) can be significantly affected by the introduction of controllable mechanical strain, achieving an enhancement factor of ~2 in the experimental tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio. We further correlate this strain-enhanced TMR with coherent spin tunneling through the MgO barrier. Moreover, the strain-enhanced TMR is analyzed using non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) quantum transport calculations. Our results help elucidate the TMR mechanism at the atomic level and can provide a new way to enhance, as well as tune, the quantum properties in nanoscale materials and devices.

Josephson tunnel junctions with ferromagnetic interlayer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weides, M.P.

2006-01-01

Superconductivity and ferromagnetism are well-known physical properties of solid states that have been widely studied and long thought about as antagonistic phenomena due to difference in spin ordering. It turns out that the combination of both superconductor and ferromagnet leads to a very rich and interesting physics. One particular example, the phase oscillations of the superconducting order parameter inside the ferromagnet, will play a major role for the devices discussed in this work. In this thesis, I present Josephson junctions with a thin Al 2 O 3 tunnel barrier and a ferromagnetic interlayer, i.e. superconductor-insulator-ferromagnet-superconductor (SIFS) stacks. The fabrication of junctions was optimized regarding the insulation of electrodes and the homogeneity of the current transport. The junctions were either in the 0 or π coupled ground state, depending on the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer and on temperature. The influence of ferromagnetic layer thickness on the transport properties and the coupling (0, π) of SIFS tunnel junctions was studied. Furthermore, using a stepped ferromagnetic layer with well-chosen thicknesses, I obtained the so-called 0-π Josephson junction. At a certain temperature this 0-π junction can be made perfectly symmetric. In this case the ground state corresponds to a vortex of supercurrent creating a magnetic flux which is a fraction of the magnetic flux quantum Φ 0 . Such structures allow to study the physics of fractional vortices and to build various electronic circuits based on them. The SIFS junctions presented here have an exponentially vanishing damping at T → 0. The SIFS technology developed within the framework of this work may be used to construct classical and quantum devices such as oscillators, memory cells and qubits. (orig.)

Josephson tunnel junctions with ferromagnetic interlayer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weides, M.P.

2006-07-01

Superconductivity and ferromagnetism are well-known physical properties of solid states that have been widely studied and long thought about as antagonistic phenomena due to difference in spin ordering. It turns out that the combination of both superconductor and ferromagnet leads to a very rich and interesting physics. One particular example, the phase oscillations of the superconducting order parameter inside the ferromagnet, will play a major role for the devices discussed in this work. In this thesis, I present Josephson junctions with a thin Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} tunnel barrier and a ferromagnetic interlayer, i.e. superconductor-insulator-ferromagnet-superconductor (SIFS) stacks. The fabrication of junctions was optimized regarding the insulation of electrodes and the homogeneity of the current transport. The junctions were either in the 0 or {pi} coupled ground state, depending on the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer and on temperature. The influence of ferromagnetic layer thickness on the transport properties and the coupling (0, {pi}) of SIFS tunnel junctions was studied. Furthermore, using a stepped ferromagnetic layer with well-chosen thicknesses, I obtained the so-called 0-{pi} Josephson junction. At a certain temperature this 0-{pi} junction can be made perfectly symmetric. In this case the ground state corresponds to a vortex of supercurrent creating a magnetic flux which is a fraction of the magnetic flux quantum {phi}{sub 0}. Such structures allow to study the physics of fractional vortices and to build various electronic circuits based on them. The SIFS junctions presented here have an exponentially vanishing damping at T {yields} 0. The SIFS technology developed within the framework of this work may be used to construct classical and quantum devices such as oscillators, memory cells and qubits. (orig.)

Molecular series-tunneling junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Kung-Ching; Hsu, Liang-Yan; Bowers, Carleen M; Rabitz, Herschel; Whitesides, George M

2015-05-13

Charge transport through junctions consisting of insulating molecular units is a quantum phenomenon that cannot be described adequately by classical circuit laws. This paper explores tunneling current densities in self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-based junctions with the structure Ag(TS)/O2C-R1-R2-H//Ga2O3/EGaIn, where Ag(TS) is template-stripped silver and EGaIn is the eutectic alloy of gallium and indium; R1 and R2 refer to two classes of insulating molecular units-(CH2)n and (C6H4)m-that are connected in series and have different tunneling decay constants in the Simmons equation. These junctions can be analyzed as a form of series-tunneling junctions based on the observation that permuting the order of R1 and R2 in the junction does not alter the overall rate of charge transport. By using the Ag/O2C interface, this system decouples the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO, which is localized on the carboxylate group) from strong interactions with the R1 and R2 units. The differences in rates of tunneling are thus determined by the electronic structure of the groups R1 and R2; these differences are not influenced by the order of R1 and R2 in the SAM. In an electrical potential model that rationalizes this observation, R1 and R2 contribute independently to the height of the barrier. This model explicitly assumes that contributions to rates of tunneling from the Ag(TS)/O2C and H//Ga2O3 interfaces are constant across the series examined. The current density of these series-tunneling junctions can be described by J(V) = J0(V) exp(-β1d1 - β2d2), where J(V) is the current density (A/cm(2)) at applied voltage V and βi and di are the parameters describing the attenuation of the tunneling current through a rectangular tunneling barrier, with width d and a height related to the attenuation factor β.

Tuning the tunneling magnetoresistance by using fluorinated graphene in graphene based magnetic junctions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shweta Meena

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Spin polarized properties of fluorinated graphene as tunnel barrier with CrO2 as two HMF electrodes are studied using first principle methods based on density functional theory. Fluorinated graphene with different fluorine coverages is explored as tunnel barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions. Density functional computation for different fluorine coverages imply that with increase in fluorine coverages, there is increase in band gap (Eg of graphene, Eg ∼ 3.466 e V was observed when graphene sheet is fluorine adsorbed on both-side with 100% coverage (CF. The results of CF graphene are compared with C4F (fluorination on one-side of graphene sheet with 25% coverage and out-of-plane graphene based magnetic tunnel junctions. On comparison of the results it is observed that CF graphene based structure offers high TMR ∼100%, and the transport of carrier is through tunneling as there are no transmission states near Fermi level. This suggests that graphene sheet with both-side fluorination with 100% coverages acts as a perfect insulator and hence a better barrier to the carriers which is due to negligible spin down current (I↓ in both Parallel Configuration (PC and Antiparallel Configuration (APC.

Achievement of high diode sensitivity via spin torque-induced resonant expulsion in vortex magnetic tunnel junction

Science.gov (United States)

Tsunegi, Sumito; Taniguchi, Tomohiro; Yakushiji, Kay; Fukushima, Akio; Yuasa, Shinji; Kubota, Hitoshi

2018-05-01

We investigated the spin-torque diode effect in a magnetic tunnel junction with FeB free layer. Vortex-core expulsion was observed near the boundary between vortex and uniform states. A high diode voltage of 24 mV was obtained with alternative input power of 0.3 µW, corresponding to huge diode sensitivity of 80,000 mV/mW. In the expulsion region, a broad peak in the high frequency region was observed, which is attributed to the weak excitation of uniform magnetization by thermal noise. The high diode sensitivity is of great importance for device applications such as telecommunications, radar detectors, and high-speed magnetic-field sensors.

Spin-Polarized Tunneling through Chemical Vapor Deposited Multilayer Molybdenum Disulfide.

Science.gov (United States)

Dankert, André; Pashaei, Parham; Kamalakar, M Venkata; Gaur, Anand P S; Sahoo, Satyaprakash; Rungger, Ivan; Narayan, Awadhesh; Dolui, Kapildeb; Hoque, Md Anamul; Patel, Ram Shanker; de Jong, Michel P; Katiyar, Ram S; Sanvito, Stefano; Dash, Saroj P

2017-06-27

The two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) has attracted widespread attention for its extraordinary electrical-, optical-, spin-, and valley-related properties. Here, we report on spin-polarized tunneling through chemical vapor deposited multilayer MoS 2 (∼7 nm) at room temperature in a vertically fabricated spin-valve device. A tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of 0.5-2% has been observed, corresponding to spin polarization of 5-10% in the measured temperature range of 300-75 K. First-principles calculations for ideal junctions result in a TMR up to 8% and a spin polarization of 26%. The detailed measurements at different temperature, bias voltages, and density functional theory calculations provide information about spin transport mechanisms in vertical multilayer MoS 2 spin-valve devices. These findings form a platform for exploring spin functionalities in 2D semiconductors and understanding the basic phenomena that control their performance.

Electronic thermometry in tunable tunnel junction

Science.gov (United States)

Maksymovych, Petro

2016-03-15

A tunable tunnel junction thermometry circuit includes a variable width tunnel junction between a test object and a probe. The junction width is varied and a change in thermovoltage across the junction with respect to the change in distance across the junction is determined. Also, a change in biased current with respect to a change in distance across the junction is determined. A temperature gradient across the junction is determined based on a mathematical relationship between the temperature gradient, the change in thermovoltage with respect to distance and the change in biased current with respect to distance. Thermovoltage may be measured by nullifying a thermoelectric tunneling current with an applied voltage supply level. A piezoelectric actuator may modulate the probe, and thus the junction width, to vary thermovoltage and biased current across the junction. Lock-in amplifiers measure the derivatives of the thermovoltage and biased current modulated by varying junction width.

Partially spin-polarized Josephson tunneling between non-centrosymmetric superconductors like CePt3Si

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mandal, S.S.; Mukherjee, S.P.

2007-01-01

Full text: The recent discovery of the superconductivity in the heavy fermionic compound CePt 3 Si have attracted much of the attention of the physics community. The presence of strong Rashba kind of spin-orbit coupling in them split the otherwise degenerate electronic band into two nondegenerate bands. This peculiarity in the band structure gives rise to complicated kind of order parameter whose exact nature is unknown till date. Traditionally Josephson junctions in superconductors draw interest both scientifically and its applicability in making devices. It has been used in several cases as a probe to the order parameter symmetry of the superconductor. It has also been studied in unconventional superconductors like spin-singlet cuprate and spin-triplet Sr 2 RuO 4 superconductors. However no Josephson junction between nonmagnetic superconductors is known to generate spin-polarized current. The purpose of this work is to theoretically show that the direction dependent tunneling matrix element across the junction between two recently discovered non-centrosymmetric superconductors like CePt 3 Si, leads to tunneling of both spin-singlet and spin-triplet Cooper pairs. As a consequence, nonvanishing spin-Josephson current is viable along with the usual charge-Josephson current. This novel spin-Josephson current depends on the relative angle xi between the axes of non-centrosymmetry {n} L and that {n} R in the left and right side of the junction respectively. This angular dependence may be used to make Josephson spin switch. (authors)

Current noise in tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frey, Moritz; Grabert, Hermann [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 3, 79104, Freiburg (Germany)

2017-06-15

We study current fluctuations in tunnel junctions driven by a voltage source. The voltage is applied to the tunneling element via an impedance providing an electromagnetic environment of the junction. We use circuit theory to relate the fluctuations of the current flowing in the leads of the junction with the voltage fluctuations generated by the environmental impedance and the fluctuations of the tunneling current. The spectrum of current fluctuations is found to consist of three parts: a term arising from the environmental Johnson-Nyquist noise, a term due to the shot noise of the tunneling current and a third term describing the cross-correlation between these two noise sources. Our phenomenological theory reproduces previous results based on the Hamiltonian model for the dynamical Coulomb blockade and provides a simple understanding of the current fluctuation spectrum in terms of circuit theory and properties of the average current. Specific results are given for a tunnel junction driven through a resonator. (copyright 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

From epitaxial growth of ferrite thin films to spin-polarized tunnelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moussy, Jean-Baptiste

2013-01-01

This paper presents a review of the research which is focused on ferrite thin films for spintronics. First, I will describe the potential of ferrite layers for the generation of spin-polarized currents. In the second step, the structural and chemical properties of epitaxial thin films and ferrite-based tunnel junctions will be presented. Particular attention will be given to ferrite systems grown by oxygen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The analysis of the structure and chemistry close to the interfaces, a key-point for understanding the spin-polarized tunnelling measurements, will be detailed. In the third part, the magnetic and magneto-transport properties of magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) thin films as a function of structural defects such as the antiphase boundaries will be explained. The spin-polarization measurements (spin-resolved photoemission, tunnel magnetoresistance) on this oxide predicted to be half-metallic will be discussed. Fourth, the potential of magnetic tunnel barriers, such as CoFe 2 O 4 , NiFe 2 O 4 or MnFe 2 O 4 , whose insulating behaviour and the high Curie temperatures make it exciting candidates for spin filtering at room temperature will be described. Spin-polarized tunnelling experiments, involving either Meservey–Tedrow or tunnel magnetoresistance measurements, will reveal significant spin-polarizations of the tunnelling current at low temperatures but also at room temperatures. Finally, I will mention a few perspectives with ferrite-based heterostructures. (topical review)

Supramolecular tunneling junctions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wimbush, K.S.

2012-01-01

In this study a variety of supramolecular tunneling junctions were created. The basis of these junctions was a self-assembled monolayer of heptathioether functionalized ß-cyclodextrin (ßCD) formed on an ultra-flat Au surface, i.e., the bottom electrode. This gave a well-defined hexagonally packed

Microscopic theory of the Coulomb based exchange coupling in magnetic tunnel junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Udalov, O G; Beloborodov, I S

2017-05-04

We study interlayer exchange coupling based on the many-body Coulomb interaction between conduction electrons in magnetic tunnel junction. This mechanism complements the known interaction between magnetic layers based on virtual electron hopping (or spin currents). We find that these two mechanisms have different behavior on system parameters. The Coulomb based coupling may exceed the hopping based exchange. We show that the Coulomb based exchange interaction, in contrast to the hopping based coupling, depends strongly on the dielectric constant of the insulating layer. The dependence of the interlayer exchange interaction on the dielectric properties of the insulating layer in magnetic tunnel junction is similar to magneto-electric effect where electric and magnetic degrees of freedom are coupled. We calculate the interlayer coupling as a function of temperature and electric field for magnetic tunnel junction with ferroelectric layer and show that the exchange interaction between magnetic leads has a sharp decrease in the vicinity of the ferroelectric phase transition and varies strongly with external electric field.

Degradation of magnetic tunnel junctions with thin AlOx barrier

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadashi Mihara, Yoshinari Kamakura, Masato Morifuji and Kenji Taniguchi

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The degradation of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs with AlOx barrier was experimentally investigated. Constant voltage stress (CVS measurement was carried out to monitor the time evolution of the conductance and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR of MTJs. The gradual increase of the stress-induced leakage current (SILC was observed prior to the breakdown, following a power law function of stress time with an exponent of about 0.2–0.4, which is similar to the case of the ultrathin gate oxide films in MOSFETs. The measured TMR for SILC suggests that the spin-dependent current component would be involved in the early stage of degradation, while spin-independent conduction becomes dominant before the breakdown resulting in a decrease of TMR.

Current-voltage characteristics of a tunnel junction with resonant centers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, T.; Valtchinov, V.

1994-05-01

We calculated the I-V characteristics of a tunnel junction containing impurities in the barrier. We consider the indirect resonant tunneling involving the impurities. The Coulomb repulsion energy E c between two electrons with opposite spins simultaneously residing on the impurity is introduced by an Anderson Hamiltonian. At low temperatures T is much less than E c the I-V characteristics is linear in V both for V c and for V>E c and changes slope at V=E c . This behaviour reflects the energy spectrum of the impurity electrons - the finite value of the charging energy E c . At T ∼ E c the junction reveals an ohmic-like behaviour as a result of the smearing out of the charging effects by the thermal fluctuations. (author). 10 refs, 2 figs

Efficient switching of 3-terminal magnetic tunnel junctions by the giant spin Hall effect of Pt85Hf15 alloy

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Minh-Hai; Shi, Shengjie; Rowlands, Graham E.; Aradhya, Sriharsha V.; Jermain, Colin L.; Ralph, D. C.; Buhrman, R. A.

2018-02-01

Recent research has indicated that introducing impurities that increase the resistivity of Pt can enhance the efficiency of the spin Hall torque it generates. Here, we directly demonstrate the usefulness of this strategy by fabricating prototype 3-terminal in-plane-magnetized magnetic tunnel junctions that utilize the spin Hall torque from a Pt85Hf15 alloy and measuring the critical currents for switching. We find that Pt85Hf15 reduces the switching current densities compared to pure Pt by approximately a factor of 2 for both quasi-static ramped current biases and nanosecond-scale current pulses, thereby proving the feasibility of this approach in assisting the development of efficient embedded magnetic memory technologies.

Spin-filtering effect and proximity effect in normal metal/ferromagnetic insulator/normal metal/superconductor junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hong; Yang Wei; Yang Xinjian; Qin Minghui; Xu Yihong

2007-01-01

Taking into account the thickness of the ferromagnetic insulator (FI), the spin-filtering effect and proximity effect in normal metal/ferromagnetic insulator/normal metal/superconductor (NM/FI/NM/SC) junctions are studied based on an extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) theory. It is shown that a spin-dependent energy shift during the tunneling process induces splitting of the sub-energy gap conductance peaks and the spin polarization in the ferromagnetic insulator causes an imbalance of the peak heights. Different from the ferromagnet the spin-filtering effect of the FI cannot cause the reversion of the normalized conductance in NM/FI/NM/SC junctions

Magnetic tunneling junctions with the Heusler compound Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conca Parra, A.

2007-01-01

Materials with large spin polarization are required for applications in spintronics devices. For this reason, major research efforts are directed to study the properties of compounds which are expected to be half metals, i.e. materials with 100% spin polarization. Half metals are expected to have a gap in the density of states at the Fermi energy for one spin band while the other spin band is metallic leading to a completely spin polarized current. The ferromagnetic full Heusler alloy Co 2 Cr 0.6 Fe 0.4 Al (CCFA) has attracted great interest in the field of spintronics. The high Tc (800 K) and the expected half metallicity make CCFA a good candidate for applications in spintronic devices such as magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs). This thesis presents the results of the study of the electronic and structural properties of CCFA thin films. The films were implemented in magnetic tunneling junctions and the tunneling magnetoresistance effect (TMR) was investigated. The main objectives were the measurement of the spin polarisation of the CCFA alloy and to obtain information about its electronic structure. The influence of the deposition conditions on the thin film properties and on the surface crystalline order and their respective influence on the TMR ratio was investigated. Epitaxial CCFA thin films with two alternative growth orientations were deposited on different substrates and buffer layers. An annealing step was used to improve the crystalline properties of the thin films. In the tunneling junctions, Al 2 O 3 was used as a barrier material and Co was chosen as counter electrode. The multilayer systems were patterned in Mesa structures using lithographic techniques. In the framework of the Julliere model, a maximum spin polarisation of 54% at 4K was measured in tunneling junctions with epitaxial CCFA electrodes. A strong influence of the annealing temperature on the TMR ratio was determined. The increase of the TMR ratio could be correlated to an improvement of

Fabrication of magnetic tunnel junctions with a single-crystalline LiF tunnel barrier

Science.gov (United States)

Krishna Narayananellore, Sai; Doko, Naoki; Matsuo, Norihiro; Saito, Hidekazu; Yuasa, Shinji

2018-04-01

We fabricated Fe/LiF/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) by molecular beam epitaxy on a MgO(001) substrate, where LiF is an insulating tunnel barrier with the same crystal structure as MgO (rock-salt type). Crystallographical studies such as transmission electron microscopy and nanobeam electron diffraction observations revealed that the LiF tunnel barrier is single-crystalline and has a LiF(001)[100] ∥ bottom Fe(001)[110] crystal orientation, which is constructed in the same manner as MgO(001) on Fe(001). Also, the in-plane lattice mismatch between the LiF tunnel barrier and the Fe bottom electrode was estimated to be small (about 0.5%). Despite such advantages for the tunnel barrier of the MTJ, the observed tunnel magnetoresistance (MR) ratio was low (˜6% at 20 K) and showed a significant decrease with increasing temperature (˜1% at room temperature). The results imply that indirect tunneling and/or thermally excited carriers in the LiF tunnel barrier, in which the current basically is not spin-polarized, play a major role in electrical transport in the MTJ.

Measure synchronization in a spin-orbit-coupled bosonic Josephson junction

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wen-Yuan; Liu, Jie; Fu, Li-Bin

2015-11-01

We present measure synchronization (MS) in a bosonic Josephson junction with spin-orbit coupling. The two atomic hyperfine states are coupled by a Raman dressing scheme, and they are regarded as two orientations of a pseudo-spin-1 /2 system. A feature specific to a spin-orbit-coupled (SOC) bosonic Josephson junction is that the transition from non-MS to MS dynamics can be modulated by Raman laser intensity, even in the absence of interspin atomic interaction. A phase diagram of non-MS and MS dynamics as functions of Raman laser intensity and Josephson tunneling amplitude is presented. Taking into account interspin atomic interactions, the system exhibits MS breaking dynamics resulting from the competition between intraspin and interspin atomic interactions. When interspin atomic interactions dominate in the competition, the system always exhibits MS dynamics. For interspin interaction weaker than intraspin interaction, a window for non-MS dynamics is present. Since SOC Bose-Einstein condensates provide a powerful platform for studies on physical problems in various fields, the study of MS dynamics is valuable in researching the collective coherent dynamical behavior in a spin-orbit-coupled bosonic Josephson junction.

Cotunneling enhancement of magnetoresistance in double magnetic tunnel junctions with embedded superparamagnetic NiFe nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dempsey, K.J.; Arena, D.; Hindmarch, A.T.; Wei, H.X.; Qin, Q.H.; Wen, Z.C.; Wang, W.X.; Vallejo-Fernandez, G.; Han, X.F.; Marrows, C.H.

2010-01-01

Temperature and bias voltage-dependent transport characteristics are presented for double magnetic tunnel junctions (DMTJs) with self-assembled NiFe nanoparticles embedded between insulating alumina barriers. The junctions with embedded nanoparticles are compared to junctions with a single barrier of comparable size and growth conditions. The embedded particles are characterized using x-ray absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and magnetometry techniques, showing that they are unoxidized and remain superparamagnetic to liquid helium temperatures. The tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) for the DMTJs is lower than the control samples, however, for the DMTJs an enhancement in TMR is seen in the Coulomb blockade region. Fitting the transport data in this region supports the theory that cotunneling is the dominant electron transport process within the Coulomb blockade region, sequential tunneling being suppressed. We therefore see an enhanced TMR attributed to the change in the tunneling process due to the interplay of the Coulomb blockade and spin-dependent tunneling through superparamagnetic nanoparticles, and develop a simple model to quantify the effect, based on the fact that our nanoparticles will appear blocked when measured on femtosecond tunneling time scales.

Particle detection with superconducting tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jany, P.

1990-08-01

At the Institute of Experimental Nuclear Physics of the University of Karlsruhe (TH) and at the Institute for Nuclear Physics of the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe we started to produce superconducting tunnel junctions and to investigate them for their suitability as particle detectors. The required facilities for the production of tunnel junctions and the experimental equipments to carry out experiments with them were erected. Experiments are presented in which radiations of different kinds of particles could successfully be measured with the tunnel junctions produced. At first we succeeded in detectioning light pulses of a laser. In experiments with alpha-particles of an energy of 4,6 MeV the alpha-particles were detected with an energy resolution of 1,1%, and it was shown in specific experiments that the phonons originating from the deposition of energy by an alpha-particle in the substrate can be detected with superconducting tunnel junctions at the surface. On that occasion it turned out that the signals could be separated with respect to their point of origin (tunnel junction, contact leads, substrate). Finally X-rays with an energy of 6 keV were detected with an energy resolution of 8% in a test arrangement that makes use of the so-called trapping effect to read out a larger absorber volume. (orig.) [de

Micromagnetic Design of Spin Dependent Tunnel Junctions for Optimized Sensing Performance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tondra, Mark; Daughton, James M; Nordman, Catherine; Wang, Dexin; Taylor, John

1999-01-01

Pinned Spin Dependent Tunneling (SDT) devices have been fabricated into high sensitivity magnetic field sensors with many favorable properties including high sensitivity (̃ 10 umOe / Hz @ 1 Hz and ̃ 100 nOe / Hz @ > 10 kHz...

Weak-field precession of nano-pillar spin-torque oscillators using MgO-based perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Changxin; Fang, Bin; Wang, Bochong; Zeng, Zhongming

2018-04-01

This paper presents a steady auto-oscillation in a spin-torque oscillator using MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with a perpendicular polarizer and a perpendicular free layer. As the injected d.c. current varied from 1.5 to 3.0 mA under a weak magnetic field of 290 Oe, the oscillation frequency decreased from 1.85 to 1.3 GHz, and the integrated power increased from 0.1 to 74 pW. A narrow linewidth down to 7 MHz corresponding to a high Q factor of 220 was achieved at 2.7 mA, which was ascribed to the spatial coherent procession of the free layer magnetization. Moreover, the oscillation frequency was quite sensitive to the applied field, about 3.07 MHz/Oe, indicating the potential applications as a weak magnetic field detector. These results suggested that the MgO-based MTJ with perpendicular magnetic easy axis could be helpful for developing spin-torque oscillators with narrow-linewidth and high sensitive.

Advanced Macro-Model with Pulse-Width Dependent Switching Characteristic for Spin Transfer Torque Based Magnetic-Tunnel-Junction Elements

Science.gov (United States)

Sojeong Kim,; Seungjun Lee,; Hyungsoon Shin,

2010-04-01

In spin transfer torque (STT)-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), the switching depends on the current pulse-width as well as the magnitude of the switching current. We present an advanced macro-model of an STT-MTJ for a circuit simulator such as HSPICE. The macro-model can simulate the dependence of switching behavior on current pulse-width in an STT-MTJ. An imaginary resistor-capacitor (RC) circuit is adopted to emulate complex timing behavior which cannot be described nicely by existing functions in HSPICE. Simulation results show the resistance-current (R-I) curve and timing behavior is in good agreement with the experimental data.

Direct characterization of spin-transfer switching of nano-scale magnetic tunnel junctions using a conductive atomic force microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jia-Mou; Yang, Dong-Chin; Lee, Ching-Ming; Ye, Lin-Xiu; Chang, Yao-Jen; Wu, Te-ho; Lee, Yen-Chi; Wu, Jong-Ching

2013-01-01

We present an alternative method of spin-transfer-induced magnetization switching for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) using a conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) with pulsed current. The nominal MTJ cells' dimensions were 200 × 400 nm 2 . The AFM probes were coated with a Pt layer via sputtering to withstand up to several milliamperes. The pulsed current measurements, with pulse duration varying from 5 to 300 ms, revealed a magnetoresistance ratio of up to 120%, and an estimated intrinsic switching current density, based on the thermal activation model, of 3.94 MA cm −2 . This method demonstrates the potential skill to characterize nanometre-scale magnetic devices. (paper)

Scattering theory of superconductive tunneling in quantum junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shumeiko, V.S.; Bratus', E.N.

1997-01-01

A consistent theory of superconductive tunneling in single-mode junctions within a scattering formulation of Bogolyubov-de Gennes quantum mechanics is presented. The dc Josephson effect and dc quasiparticle transport in the voltage-biased junctions are considered. Elastic quasiparticle scattering by the junction determines the equilibrium Josephson current. The origin of Andreev bound states in tunnel junctions and their role in equilibrium Josephson transport are discussed. In contrast, quasiparticle tunneling in voltage-biased junctions is determined by inelastic scattering. A general expression for inelastic scattering amplitudes is derived and the quasiparticle current is calculated at all voltages with emphasis on a discussion of the properties of sub gap tunnel current and the nature of subharmonic gap structure

Controlling spin-dependent tunneling by bandgap tuning in epitaxial rocksalt MgZnO films.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, D L; Ma, Q L; Wang, S G; Ward, R C C; Hesjedal, T; Zhang, X-G; Kohn, A; Amsellem, E; Yang, G; Liu, J L; Jiang, J; Wei, H X; Han, X F

2014-12-02

Widespread application of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) for information storage has so far been limited by the complicated interplay between tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio and the product of resistance and junction area (RA). An intricate connection exists between TMR ratio, RA value and the bandgap and crystal structure of the barrier, a connection that must be unravelled to optimise device performance and enable further applications to be developed. Here, we demonstrate a novel method to tailor the bandgap of an ultrathin, epitaxial Zn-doped MgO tunnel barrier with rocksalt structure. This structure is attractive due to its good Δ1 spin filtering effect, and we show that MTJs based on tunable MgZnO barriers allow effective balancing of TMR ratio and RA value. In this way spin-dependent transport properties can be controlled, a key challenge for the development of spintronic devices.

A New Circuit Model for Spin-Torque Oscillator Including Perpendicular Torque of Magnetic Tunnel Junction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyein Lim

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Spin-torque oscillator (STO is a promising new technology for the future RF oscillators, which is based on the spin-transfer torque (STT effect in magnetic multilayered nanostructure. It is expected to provide a larger tunability, smaller size, lower power consumption, and higher level of integration than the semiconductor-based oscillators. In our previous work, a circuit-level model of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR STO was proposed. In this paper, we present a physics-based circuit-level model of the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ-based STO. MTJ-STO model includes the effect of perpendicular torque that has been ignored in the GMR-STO model. The variations of three major characteristics, generation frequency, mean oscillation power, and generation linewidth of an MTJ-STO with respect to the amount of perpendicular torque, are investigated, and the results are applied to our model. The operation of the model was verified by HSPICE simulation, and the results show an excellent agreement with the experimental data. The results also prove that a full circuit-level simulation with MJT-STO devices can be made with our proposed model.

Failure Analysis in Magnetic Tunnel Junction Nanopillar with Interfacial Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weisheng Zhao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Magnetic tunnel junction nanopillar with interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA-MTJ becomes a promising candidate to build up spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM for the next generation of non-volatile memory as it features low spin transfer switching current, fast speed, high scalability, and easy integration into conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS circuits. However, this device suffers from a number of failure issues, such as large process variation and tunneling barrier breakdown. The large process variation is an intrinsic issue for PMA-MTJ as it is based on the interfacial effects between ultra-thin films with few layers of atoms; the tunneling barrier breakdown is due to the requirement of an ultra-thin tunneling barrier (e.g., <1 nm to reduce the resistance area for the spin transfer torque switching in the nanopillar. These failure issues limit the research and development of STT-MRAM to widely achieve commercial products. In this paper, we give a full analysis of failure mechanisms for PMA-MTJ and present some eventual solutions from device fabrication to system level integration to optimize the failure issues.

Superconducting tunnel-junction refrigerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melton, R.G.; Paterson, J.L.; Kaplan, S.B.

1980-01-01

The dc current through an S 1 -S 2 tunnel junction, with Δ 2 greater than Δ 1 , when biased with eV 1 +Δ 2 , will lower the energy in S 1 . This energy reduction will be shared by the phonons and electrons. This device is shown to be analogous to a thermoelectric refrigerator with an effective Peltier coefficient π* approx. Δ 1 /e. Tunneling calculations yield the cooling power P/sub c/, the electrical power P/sub e/ supplied by the bias supply, and the cooling efficiency eta=P/sub c//P/sub e/. The maximum cooling power is obtained for eV= +- (Δ 2 -Δ 1 ) and t 1 =T 1 /T/sub c/1 approx. 0.9. Estimates are made of the temperature difference T 2 -T 1 achievable in Al-Pb and Sn-Pb junctions with an Al 2 O 3 tunneling barrier. The performance of this device is shown to yield a maximum cooling efficiency eta approx. = Δ 1 /(Δ 2 -Δ 1 ) which can be compared with that available in an ideal Carnot refrigerator of eta=T 1 /(T 2 -T 1 ). The development of a useful tunnel-junction refrigerator requires a tunneling barrier with an effective thermal conductance per unit area several orders of magnitude less than that provided by the A1 2 O 3 barrier in the Al-Pb and Sn-Pb systems

Fabrication of magnetic tunnel junctions with epitaxial and textured ferromagnetic layers

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Y. Austin; Yang, Jianhua Joshua

2008-11-11

This invention relates to magnetic tunnel junctions and methods for making the magnetic tunnel junctions. The magnetic tunnel junctions include a tunnel barrier oxide layer sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers both of which are epitaxial or textured with respect to the underlying substrate upon which the magnetic tunnel junctions are grown. The magnetic tunnel junctions provide improved magnetic properties, sharper interfaces and few defects.

Thermal stability study of the insulator layer in NiFe/CoFe/Al2O3/Co spin-dependent tunnel junction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liao, C.C.; Ho, C.H.; Huang, R.-T.; Chen, F.-R.; Kai, J.J.; Chen, L.-C.; Lin, M.-T.; Yao, Y.D.

2002-01-01

Spin-dependent tunnel junction, NiFe/CoFe/Al 2 O 3 /Co//Si, was fabricated to investigate the thermal stability induced diffusion behaviors. The interfacial diffusion causes the degradation of the ratio of the TMR, the enhancement of the switching field of the two magnetic electrodes, the thickness decrease of the insulator layer, and the increase of the interfacial roughness. The outward diffusion of oxygen from the insulator layer is faster than that of aluminum for samples annealed below 400 deg. C. The degradation of the ratio of TMR is attributed to the disturbance of the spin polarization in the magnetic layers, and the increase of the pinholes and spin-flip effect in the insulator layer. The relative roughness between the two interfaces of the insulator induces the surface magnetic dipoles, and hence, increases the switching field of the ferromagnetic electrodes

Tunneling magnetoresistance in Fe{sub 3}Si/MgO/Fe{sub 3}Si(001) magnetic tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tao, L. L.; Liang, S. H.; Liu, D. P.; Wei, H. X.; Han, X. F., E-mail: xfhan@iphy.ac.cn [Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Wang, Jian [Department of Physics and the Center of Theoretical and Computational Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China)

2014-04-28

We present a theoretical study of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and spin-polarized transport in Fe{sub 3}Si/MgO/Fe{sub 3}Si(001) magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). It is found that the spin-polarized conductance and bias-dependent TMR ratios are rather sensitive to the structure of Fe{sub 3}Si electrode. From the symmetry analysis of the band structures, we found that there is no spin-polarized Δ{sub 1} symmetry bands crossing the Fermi level for the cubic Fe{sub 3}Si. In contrast, the tetragonal Fe{sub 3}Si driven by in-plane strain reveals half-metal nature in terms of Δ{sub 1} state. The giant TMR ratios are predicted for both MTJs with cubic and tetragonal Fe{sub 3}Si electrodes under zero bias. However, the giant TMR ratio resulting from interface resonant transmission for the former decreases rapidly with the bias. For the latter, the giant TMR ratio can maintain up to larger bias due to coherent transmission through the majority-spin Δ{sub 1} channel.

Efficient spin injection and giant magnetoresistance in Fe / MoS 2 / Fe junctions

KAUST Repository

Dolui, Kapildeb

2014-07-02

We demonstrate giant magnetoresistance in Fe/MoS2/Fe junctions by means of ab initio transport calculations. We show that junctions incorporating either a monolayer or a bilayer of MoS2 are metallic and that Fe acts as an efficient spin injector into MoS2 with an efficiency of about 45%. This is the result of the strong coupling between the Fe and S atoms at the interface. For junctions of greater thickness, a maximum magnetoresistance of ∼300% is obtained, which remains robust with the applied bias as long as transport is in the tunneling limit. A general recipe for improving the magnetoresistance in spin valves incorporating layered transition metal dichalcogenides is proposed. © 2014 American Physical Society.

Optimization of a tunneling barrier in magnetic tunneling junction by tilted-plasma oxidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, C.H.; Shim, Heejae; Kim, K.S.; Cho, B.K.

2004-01-01

Oxidation of an AlO x insulating barrier in a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) was carried out by a tilted-plasma oxidation method. It was found that the tilted-plasma oxidation induced a gradual change in the extent of oxidation of an insulating layer, which consequently led to a gradual change in the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and specific junction resistance (RA) of the MTJ. We found a linear relation in the TMR versus RA curve with positive and negative slopes for less- and overoxidized junctions, respectively, and a parabolic relation for optimally oxidized junctions. The crossover in the TMR versus RA curves provides an effective and useful way to optimize (and monitor) the oxidation condition of a tunneling barrier in MTJs especially of a tunneling barrier less than 10 A thick. The tunneling junctions were also investigated after thermal annealing at various temperatures. The observations after thermal annealing were found to be consistent with transmission electrons microscopy images and a scenario of the partial formation of an additional ultrathin tunneling barrier at the top surface of the bottom magnetic layer

Instabilities in thin tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konkin, M.K.; Adler, J.G.

1978-01-01

Tunnel junctions prepared for inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy are often plagued by instabilities in the 0-500-meV range. This paper relates the bias at which the instability occurs to the barrier thickness

Tunneling conductance of a two-dimensional electron gas with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srisongmuang, B.; Ka-oey, A.

2012-01-01

We theoretically studied the spin-dependent charge transport in a two-dimensional electron gas with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (DSOC) and metal junctions. It is shown that the DSOC energy can be directly measured from the tunneling conductance spectrum. We found that spin polarization of the conductance in the propagation direction can be obtained by injecting from the DSOC system. We also considered the effect of the interfacial scattering barrier (both spin-flip and non-spin-flip scattering) on the overall conductance and the spin polarization of the conductance. It is found that the increase of spin-flip scattering can enhance the conductance under certain conditions. Moreover, both types of scattering can increase the spin polarization below the branches crossing of the energy band. - Highlights: → DSOC energy can be directly measured from tunneling conductance spectrum. → Spin polarization of conductance in the propagation direction can be obtained by injecting from DSOC system. → Both types of scattering can increase spin polarization.

Mode-hopping mechanism generating colored noise in a magnetic tunnel junction based spin torque oscillator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Raghav; Dürrenfeld, P.; Iacocca, E.; Heinonen, O. G.; Åkerman, J.; Muduli, P. K.

2014-01-01

The frequency noise spectrum of a magnetic tunnel junction based spin torque oscillator is examined where multiple modes and mode-hopping events are observed. The frequency noise spectrum is found to consist of both white noise and 1/f frequency noise. We find a systematic and similar dependence of both white noise and 1/f frequency noise on bias current and the relative angle between the reference and free layers, which changes the effective damping and hence the mode-hopping behavior in this system. The frequency at which the 1/f frequency noise changes to white noise increases as the free layer is aligned away from the anti-parallel orientation w.r.t the reference layer. These results indicate that the origin of 1/f frequency noise is related to mode-hopping, which produces both white noise as well as 1/f frequency noise similar to the case of ring lasers.

Low temperature properties of spin filter NbN/GdN/NbN Josephson junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Massarotti, D., E-mail: dmassarotti@na.infn.it [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell’Informazione, Seconda Università di Napoli, via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE) (Italy); CNR-SPIN UOS Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Caruso, R. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); CNR-SPIN UOS Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Pal, A. [Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FS (United Kingdom); Rotoli, G. [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell’Informazione, Seconda Università di Napoli, via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE) (Italy); Longobardi, L. [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell’Informazione, Seconda Università di Napoli, via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE) (Italy); American Physical Society, 1 Research Road, Ridge, New York 11961 (United States); Pepe, G.P. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); CNR-SPIN UOS Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Blamire, M.G. [Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FS (United Kingdom); Tafuri, F. [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell’Informazione, Seconda Università di Napoli, via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE) (Italy); CNR-SPIN UOS Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli (Italy)

2017-02-15

Highlights: • We study the phase dynamics of ferromagnetic NbN/GdN/NbN Josephson junctions. • The ferromagnetic insulator GdN barrier generates spin-filtering properties. • Spin filter junctions fall in the underdamped regime. • MQT occurs with the same phenomenology as in conventional Josephson junctions. • Dissipation is studied in a wide range of critical current density values. - Abstract: A ferromagnetic Josephson junction (JJ) represents a special class of hybrid system where different ordered phases meet and generate novel physics. In this work we report on the transport measurements of underdamped ferromagnetic NbN/GdN/NbN JJs at low temperatures. In these junctions the ferromagnetic insulator gadolinium nitride barrier generates spin-filtering properties and a dominant second harmonic component in the current-phase relation. These features make spin filter junctions quite interesting also in terms of fundamental studies on phase dynamics and dissipation. We discuss the fingerprints of spin filter JJs, through complementary transport measurements, and their implications on the phase dynamics, through standard measurements of switching current distributions. NbN/GdN/NbN JJs, where spin filter properties can be controllably tuned along with the critical current density (J{sub c}), turn to be a very relevant term of reference to understand phase dynamics and dissipation in an enlarged class of JJs, not necessarily falling in the standard tunnel limit characterized by low J{sub c} values.

Signatures of asymmetric and inelastic tunneling on the spin torque bias dependence

KAUST Repository

Manchon, Aurelien; Zhang, S.; Lee, K.-J.

2010-01-01

The influence of structural asymmetries (barrier height and exchange splitting), as well as inelastic scattering (magnons and phonons) on the bias dependence of the spin transfer torque in a magnetic tunnel junction is studied theoretically using the free-electron model. We show that they modify the “conventional” bias dependence of the spin transfer torque, together with the bias dependence of the conductance. In particular, both structural asymmetries and bulk (inelastic) scattering add antisymmetric terms to the perpendicular torque (∝V and ∝je|V|) while the interfacial inelastic scattering conserves the junction symmetry and only produces symmetric terms (∝|V|n, n∊N). The analysis of spin torque and conductance measurements displays a signature revealing the origin (asymmetry or inelastic scattering) of the discrepancy.

Signatures of asymmetric and inelastic tunneling on the spin torque bias dependence

KAUST Repository

Manchon, Aurelien

2010-11-15

The influence of structural asymmetries (barrier height and exchange splitting), as well as inelastic scattering (magnons and phonons) on the bias dependence of the spin transfer torque in a magnetic tunnel junction is studied theoretically using the free-electron model. We show that they modify the “conventional” bias dependence of the spin transfer torque, together with the bias dependence of the conductance. In particular, both structural asymmetries and bulk (inelastic) scattering add antisymmetric terms to the perpendicular torque (∝V and ∝je|V|) while the interfacial inelastic scattering conserves the junction symmetry and only produces symmetric terms (∝|V|n, n∊N). The analysis of spin torque and conductance measurements displays a signature revealing the origin (asymmetry or inelastic scattering) of the discrepancy.

Bias voltage effect on electron tunneling across a junction with a ferroelectric–ferromagnetic two-phase composite barrier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jian; Ju Sheng; Li, Z.Y.

2012-01-01

The effect of bias voltage on electron tunneling across a junction with a ferroelectric–ferromagnetic composite barrier is investigated theoretically. Because of the inversion symmetry breaking of the spontaneous ferroelectric polarization, bias voltage dependence of the electron tunneling shows significant differences between the positive bias and the negative one. The differences of spin filtering or tunnel magnetoresistance increase with the increasing absolute value of bias voltage. Such direction preferred electron tunneling is found intimately related with the unusual asymmetry of the electrical potential profile in two-phase composite barrier and provides a unique change to realize rectifying functions in spintronics. - Highlights: ► Electron tunneling across a ferroelectric–ferromagnetic composite barrier junction. ► TMR effect is different under the same value but opposite direction bias voltage. ► This directionality of the electron tunneling enhances with increasing bias voltage.

Effect of Orbital Hybridization on Spin-Polarized Tunneling across Co/C60 Interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Kai; Strambini, Elia; Sanderink, Johnny G M; Bolhuis, Thijs; van der Wiel, Wilfred G; de Jong, Michel P

2016-10-26

The interaction between ferromagnetic surfaces and organic semiconductors leads to the formation of hybrid interfacial states. As a consequence, the local magnetic moment is altered, a hybrid interfacial density of states (DOS) is formed, and spin-dependent shifts of energy levels occur. Here, we show that this hybridization affects spin transport across the interface significantly. We report spin-dependent electronic transport measurements for tunnel junctions comprising C 60 molecular thin films grown on top of face-centered-cubic (fcc) epitaxial Co electrodes, an AlO x tunnel barrier, and an Al counter electrode. Since only one ferromagnetic electrode (Co) is present, spin-polarized transport is due to tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR). An in-plane TAMR ratio of approximately 0.7% has been measured at 5 K under application of a magnetic field of 800 mT. The magnetic switching behavior shows some remarkable features, which are attributed to the rotation of interfacial magnetic moments. This behavior can be ascribed to the magnetic coupling between the Co thin films and the newly formed Co/C 60 hybridized interfacial states. Using the Tedrow-Meservey technique, the tunnel spin polarization of the Co/C 60 interface was found to be 43%.

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy influence on voltage-driven spin-diode effect in magnetic tunnel junctions: A micromagnetic study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frankowski, Marek, E-mail: mfrankow@agh.edu.pl [AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, Department of Electronics, 30-059 Kraków (Poland); Chȩciński, Jakub [AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, Department of Electronics, 30-059 Kraków (Poland); AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, 30-059 Kraków (Poland); Skowroński, Witold; Stobiecki, Tomasz [AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, Department of Electronics, 30-059 Kraków (Poland)

2017-05-01

We study the influence of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy on the voltage-induced ferromagnetic resonance in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). An MTJ response to the applied radio-frequency voltage excitation is investigated using micromagnetic calculations with the free layer oriented both in-plane and out-of-plane. Our model allows for a quantitative description of the magnetic system parameters such as resonance frequency, sensitivity or quality factor and for a distinction between material-dependent internal damping and disorder-dependent effective damping. We find that the sensitivity abruptly increases up to three orders of magnitude near the anisotropy transition regime, while the quality factor declines due to effective damping increase. We attribute the origin of this behaviour to the changes of the exchange energy in the system, which is calculated using micromagnetic approach. - Highlights: • Micromagnetic approach is used for modelling of voltage-induced spin-diode effect. • Voltage-induced switching simulations are performed. • Spin-diode line is analyzed as a function of perpendicular anisotropy energy. • Effective damping, quality factor and sensitivity are calculated.

Magnetic tunneling junctions with the Heusler compound Co{sub 2}Cr{sub 0.6}Fe{sub 0.4}Al

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conca Parra, A.

2007-07-20

Materials with large spin polarization are required for applications in spintronics devices. For this reason, major research efforts are directed to study the properties of compounds which are expected to be half metals, i.e. materials with 100% spin polarization. Half metals are expected to have a gap in the density of states at the Fermi energy for one spin band while the other spin band is metallic leading to a completely spin polarized current. The ferromagnetic full Heusler alloy Co{sub 2}Cr{sub 0.6}Fe{sub 0.4}Al (CCFA) has attracted great interest in the field of spintronics. The high Tc (800 K) and the expected half metallicity make CCFA a good candidate for applications in spintronic devices such as magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs). This thesis presents the results of the study of the electronic and structural properties of CCFA thin films. The films were implemented in magnetic tunneling junctions and the tunneling magnetoresistance effect (TMR) was investigated. The main objectives were the measurement of the spin polarisation of the CCFA alloy and to obtain information about its electronic structure. The influence of the deposition conditions on the thin film properties and on the surface crystalline order and their respective influence on the TMR ratio was investigated. Epitaxial CCFA thin films with two alternative growth orientations were deposited on different substrates and buffer layers. An annealing step was used to improve the crystalline properties of the thin films. In the tunneling junctions, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} was used as a barrier material and Co was chosen as counter electrode. The multilayer systems were patterned in Mesa structures using lithographic techniques. In the framework of the Julliere model, a maximum spin polarisation of 54% at 4K was measured in tunneling junctions with epitaxial CCFA electrodes. A strong influence of the annealing temperature on the TMR ratio was determined. The increase of the TMR ratio could be correlated

Temperature dependence of interlayer coupling in perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with GdOX barriers

Science.gov (United States)

Newhouse-Illige, T.; Xu, Y. H.; Liu, Y. H.; Huang, S.; Kato, H.; Bi, C.; Xu, M.; LeRoy, B. J.; Wang, W. G.

2018-02-01

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with GdOX tunneling barriers have shown a unique voltage controllable interlayer magnetic coupling effect. Here, we investigate the quality of the GdOX barrier and the coupling mechanism in these junctions by examining the temperature dependence of the tunneling magnetoresistance and the interlayer coupling from room temperature down to 11 K. The barrier is shown to be of good quality with the spin independent conductance only contributing a small portion, 14%, to the total room temperature conductance, similar to AlOX and MgO barriers. The interlayer coupling, however, shows an anomalously strong temperature dependence including sign changes below 80 K. This non-trivial temperature dependence is not described by previous models of interlayer coupling and may be due to the large induced magnetic moment of the Gd ions in the barrier.

Towards nanoscale magnetic memory elements : fabrication and properties of sub - 100 nm magnetic tunnel junctions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fabrie, C.G.C.H.M.

2008-01-01

The rapidly growing field of spintronics has recently attracted much attention. Spintronics is electronics in which the spin degree of freedom has been added to conventional chargebased electronic devices. A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is an example of a spintronic device. MTJs consist of two

Determination of the thickness of Al2O3 barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchanan, J.D.R.; Hase, T.P.A.; Tanner, B.K.; Hughes, N.D.; Hicken, R.J.

2002-01-01

The barrier thickness in magnetic spin-dependent tunnel junctions with Al 2 O 3 barriers has been measured using grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity and by fitting the tunneling current to the Simmons model. We have studied the effect of glow discharge oxidation time on the barrier structure, revealing a substantial increase in Al 2 O 3 thickness with oxidation. The greater thickness of barrier measured using grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity compared with that obtained by fitting current density-voltage to the Simmons electron tunneling model suggests that electron tunneling is localized to specific regions across the barrier, where the thickness is reduced by fluctuations due to nonconformal roughness

Resonant Tunneling Spin Pump

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, David Z.

2007-01-01

The resonant tunneling spin pump is a proposed semiconductor device that would generate spin-polarized electron currents. The resonant tunneling spin pump would be a purely electrical device in the sense that it would not contain any magnetic material and would not rely on an applied magnetic field. Also, unlike prior sources of spin-polarized electron currents, the proposed device would not depend on a source of circularly polarized light. The proposed semiconductor electron-spin filters would exploit the Rashba effect, which can induce energy splitting in what would otherwise be degenerate quantum states, caused by a spin-orbit interaction in conjunction with a structural-inversion asymmetry in the presence of interfacial electric fields in a semiconductor heterostructure. The magnitude of the energy split is proportional to the electron wave number. Theoretical studies have suggested the possibility of devices in which electron energy states would be split by the Rashba effect and spin-polarized currents would be extracted by resonant quantum-mechanical tunneling.

High-temperature magnetoresistance study of a magnetic tunnel junction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, D.C.; Yao, Y.D.; Chen, C.M.; Hung, James; Chen, Y.S.; Wang, W.H.; Chen, W.C.; Kao, M.J.

2006-01-01

The thermal stability and the spin transportation phenomenon at room temperature and 140 deg. C of a series of magnetic tunneling junctions with the structure of bottom electrode/PtMn/Pinned layer/ AlO x /CoFe/NiFe/top electrode have been investigated. The MR ratio decreases from 33.5% at room temperature to 29% at 140 deg. C. The MR ratio at room temperature increases roughly 0.8% after thermal treatment at temperatures above 60 deg. C. This is related to the thermal relaxation of the strains existing in the samples

Current-driven thermo-magnetic switching in magnetic tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Kravets, A. F.; Polishchuk, D. M.; Pashchenko, V. A.; Tovstolytkin, A. I.; Korenivski, V.

2017-12-01

We investigate switching of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) driven by the thermal effect of the transport current through the junctions. The switching occurs in a specially designed composite free layer, which acts as one of the MTJ electrodes, and is due to a current-driven ferro-to-paramagnetic Curie transition with the associated exchange decoupling within the free layer leading to magnetic reversal. We simulate the current and heat propagation through the device and show how heat focusing can be used to improve the power efficiency. The Curie-switch MTJ demonstrated in this work has the advantage of being highly tunable in terms of its operating temperature range, conveniently to or just above room temperature, which can be of technological significance and competitive with the known switching methods using spin-transfer torques.

Tunneling Planar Hall Effect in Topological Insulators: Spin Valves and Amplifiers.

Science.gov (United States)

Scharf, Benedikt; Matos-Abiague, Alex; Han, Jong E; Hankiewicz, Ewelina M; Žutić, Igor

2016-10-14

We investigate tunneling across a single ferromagnetic barrier on the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator. In the presence of a magnetization component along the bias direction, a tunneling planar Hall conductance (TPHC), transverse to the applied bias, develops. Electrostatic control of the barrier enables a giant Hall angle, with the TPHC exceeding the longitudinal tunneling conductance. By changing the in-plane magnetization direction, it is possible to change the sign of both the longitudinal and transverse differential conductance without opening a gap in the topological surface state. The transport in a topological-insulator-ferromagnet junction can, thus, be drastically altered from a simple spin valve to an amplifier.

HfO2 and SiO2 as barriers in magnetic tunneling junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Shukla, Gokaran; Archer, Thomas; Sanvito, Stefano

2017-05-01

SiO2 and HfO2 are both high-k, wide-gap semiconductors, currently used in the microelectronic industry as gate barriers. Here we investigate whether the same materials can be employed to make magnetic tunnel junctions, which in principle can be amenable for integration in conventional Si technology. By using a combination of density functional theory and the nonequilibrium Green's functions method for quantum transport we have studied the transport properties of Co [0001 ] /SiO2[001 ] /Co [0001 ] and Fe [001 ] /HfO2[001 ] /Fe [001 ] junctions. In both cases we found a quite large magnetoresistance, which is explained through the analysis of the real band structure of the magnets and the complex one of the insulator. We find that there is no symmetry spin filtering for the Co-based junction since the high transmission Δ2' band crosses the Fermi level, EF, for both spin directions. However, the fact that Co is a strong ferromagnet makes the orbital contribution to the two Δ2' spin subbands different, yielding magnetoresistance. In contrast for the Fe-based junction symmetry filtering is active for an energy window spanning between the Fermi level and 1 eV below EF, with Δ1 symmetry contributing to the transmission.

Primary Tunnel Junction Thermometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pekola, Jukka P.; Holmqvist, Tommy; Meschke, Matthias

2008-01-01

We describe the concept and experimental demonstration of primary thermometry based on a four-probe measurement of a single tunnel junction embedded within four arrays of junctions. We show that in this configuration random sample specific and environment-related errors can be avoided. This method relates temperature directly to Boltzmann constant, which will form the basis of the definition of temperature and realization of official temperature scales in the future

Development of the tunneling junction simulation environment for scanning tunneling microscope evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gajewski, Krzysztof; Piasecki, Tomasz; Kopiec, Daniel; Gotszalk, Teodor

2017-01-01

Proper configuration of scanning tunneling microscope electronics plays an important role in the atomic scale resolution surface imaging. Device evaluation in the tunneling contact between scanning tip and sample may be prone to the surface quality or mechanical disturbances. Thus the use of tunneling junction simulator makes electronics testing more reliable and increases its repeatability. Here, we present the theoretical background enabling the proper selection of electronic components circuitry used as a tunneling junction simulator. We also show how to simulate mechanics related to the piezoelectric scanner, which is applied in real experiments. Practical use of the proposed simulator and its application in metrological characterization of the developed scanning tunneling microscope is also shown. (paper)

Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in single-molecule magnet junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Haiqing; Wang, Qiang; Jiao, Hujun; Liang, J.-Q.

2012-08-01

We theoretically investigate quantum transport through single-molecule magnet (SMM) junctions with ferromagnetic and normal-metal leads in the sequential regime. The current obtained by means of the rate-equation gives rise to the tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR), which varies with the angle between the magnetization direction of ferromagnetic lead and the easy axis of SMM. The angular dependence of TAMR can serve as a probe to determine experimentally the easy axis of SMM. Moreover, it is demonstrated that both the magnitude and the sign of TAMR are tunable by the bias voltage, suggesting a new spin-valve device with only one magnetic electrode in molecular spintronics.

Capacitance measurement of Josephson tunnel junctions with microwave-induced dc quasiparticle tunneling currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamasaki, K.; Yoshida, K.; Irie, F.; Enpuku, K.

1982-01-01

The microwave response of the dc quasiparticle tunneling current in Josephson tunnel junctions, where the Josephson current is suppressed by an external magnetic field, has been studied quantitatively in order to clarify its characteristics as a probe for the measurement of the junction capacitance. Extensive experiments for both small and long junctions are carried out for distinguishing between microwave behaviors of lumped and distributed constant junctions. It is shown that the observed voltage dependence of the dc quasiparticle tunneling current modified by an applied rf field is in good agreement with a theoretical result which takes into account the influence of the microwave circuit connected to the junction. The comparison between theory and experiment gives the magnitude of the internal rf field in the junction. Together with the applied rf field, this internal rf field leads to the junction rf impedance which is dominated by the junction capacitance in our experimental condition. In the case of lumped junctions, this experimental rf impedance is in reasonable agreement with the theoretical one with the junction capacitance estimated from the Fiske step of the distributed junction fabricated on the same substrate; the obtained ratio of the experimental impedance to the theoretical one is approximately 0.6--1.7. In the case of distributed junctions, however, experimental values of their characteristic impedances are approximately 0.2--0.3 of theoretical values calculated by assuming the one-dimensional junction model and taking account of the standing-wave effect in the junction

Negative tunneling magneto-resistance in quantum wires with strong spin-orbit coupling.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Seungju; Serra, Llorenç; Choi, Mahn-Soo

2015-07-01

We consider a two-dimensional magnetic tunnel junction of the FM/I/QW(FM+SO)/I/N structure, where FM, I and QW(FM+SO) stand for a ferromagnet, an insulator and a quantum wire with both magnetic ordering and Rashba spin-orbit (SOC), respectively. The tunneling magneto-resistance (TMR) exhibits strong anisotropy and switches sign as the polarization direction varies relative to the quantum-wire axis, due to interplay among the one-dimensionality, the magnetic ordering, and the strong SOC of the quantum wire.

Bias-voltage dependence of perpendicular spin-transfer torque in asymmetric MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Oh, Se Chung

2009-10-25

Spin-transfer torque (STT) allows the electrical control of magnetic states in nanostructures. The STT in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) is of particular importance owing to its potential for device applications. It has been demonstrated that the MTJ has a sizable perpendicular STT (, field-like torque), which substantially affects STT-driven magnetization dynamics. In contrast to symmetric MTJs where the bias dependence of is quadratic, it is theoretically predicted that the symmetry breaking of the system causes an extra linear bias dependence. Here, we report experimental results that are consistent with the predicted linear bias dependence in asymmetric MTJs. The linear contribution is quite significant and its sign changes from positive to negative as the asymmetry is modified. This result opens a way to design the bias dependence of the field-like term, which is useful for device applications by allowing, in particular, the suppression of the abnormal switching-back phenomena. © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Bias-voltage dependence of perpendicular spin-transfer torque in asymmetric MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Oh, Se Chung; Park, Seung Young; Manchon, Aurelien; Chshiev, Mairbek; Han, Jae Ho; Lee, Hyun Woo; Lee, Jang Eun; Nam, Kyung Tae; Jo, Younghun; Kong, Yo Chan; Dieny, Bernard; Lee, Kyung Jin

2009-01-01

Spin-transfer torque (STT) allows the electrical control of magnetic states in nanostructures. The STT in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) is of particular importance owing to its potential for device applications. It has been demonstrated that the MTJ has a sizable perpendicular STT (, field-like torque), which substantially affects STT-driven magnetization dynamics. In contrast to symmetric MTJs where the bias dependence of is quadratic, it is theoretically predicted that the symmetry breaking of the system causes an extra linear bias dependence. Here, we report experimental results that are consistent with the predicted linear bias dependence in asymmetric MTJs. The linear contribution is quite significant and its sign changes from positive to negative as the asymmetry is modified. This result opens a way to design the bias dependence of the field-like term, which is useful for device applications by allowing, in particular, the suppression of the abnormal switching-back phenomena. © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Tunneling junction as an open system. Normal tunneling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Y.

1978-01-01

The method of the tunneling Hamiltonian is reformulated in the case of normal tunneling by introducing two independent particle baths. Due to the baths, it becomes possible to realize a final stationary state where the electron numbers of the two electrodes in the tunneling system are maintained constant and where there exists a stationary current. The effect of the bath-system couplings on the current-voltage characteristics of the junction is discussed in relation to the usual expression of the current as a function of voltage. (Auth.)

Niobium nitride Josephson tunnel junctions with magnesium oxide barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoji, A.; Aoyagi, M.; Kosaka, S.; Shinoki, F.; Hayakawa, H.

1985-01-01

Niobium nitride-niobium nitride Josephson tunnel junctions have been fabricated using amorphous magnesium oxide (a-MgO) films as barriers. These junctions have excellent tunneling characteristics. For example, a large gap voltage (V/sub g/ = 5.1 mV), a large product of the maximum critical current and the normal tunneling resistance (I/sub c/R/sub n/ = 3.25 mV), and a small subgap leakage current (V/sub m/ = 45 mV, measured at 3 mV) have been obtained for a NbN/a-MgO/NbN junction. The critical current of this junction remains finite up to 14.5 K

Spin-dependent transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor/ferromagnet junctions: a fully relativistic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popescu, Voicu; Ebert, Hubert; Papanikolaou, Nikolaos; Zeller, Rudolf; Dederichs, Peter H

2004-01-01

We present a fully relativistic generalization of the Landauer-Buettiker formalism that has been implemented within the framework of the spin-polarized relativistic screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green function method. This approach, going beyond the two-current model, supplies a more general description of the electronic transport. It is shown that the relativistic conductance can be split in terms of individual spin-diagonal and spin-off-diagonal (spin-flip) components, which allows a detailed analysis of the influence of spin-orbit-coupling-induced spin-flip processes on the spin-dependent transport. We apply our method to calculate the ballistic conductance in Fe/GaAs/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions. We find that, by removing the spin selection rules, the spin-orbit coupling strongly influences the conductance, not only qualitatively but also quantitatively, especially in the anti-parallel alignment of the magnetization in the two Fe leads

Magnetic and electric control of spin- and valley-polarized transport across tunnel junctions on monolayer WSe2

Science.gov (United States)

Tahir, M.; Krstajić, P. M.; Vasilopoulos, P.

2017-06-01

The recent experimental realization of high-quality WSe2 leads to the possibility of an efficient manipulation of its spin and valley degrees of freedom. Its electronic properties comprise a huge spin-orbit coupling, a direct band gap, and a strong anisotropic lifting of the degeneracy of the valley degree of freedom in a magnetic field. We evaluate its band structure and study ballistic electron transport through single and double junctions (or barriers) on monolayer WSe2 in the presence of spin Ms and valley Mv Zeeman fields and of an electric potential U . The conductance versus the field Ms or Mv decreases in a fluctuating manner. For a single junction, the spin Ps and valley Pv polarizations rise with M =Mv=2 Ms , reach a value of more than 55 % , and become perfect above U ≈45 meV while for a double junction this change can occur for U ≥50 meV and M ≥5 meV. In certain regions of the (M ,U ) plane Pv becomes perfect. The conductance gc, its spin-up and spin-down components, and both polarizations oscillate with the barrier width d . The ability to isolate various carrier degrees of freedom in WSe2 may render it a promising candidate for new spintronic and valleytronic devices.

Asymmetric angular dependence of spin-transfer torques in CoFe/Mg-B-O/CoFe magnetic tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tang, Ling, E-mail: lingtang@zjut.edu.cn; Xu, Zhi-Jun, E-mail: xzj@zjut.edu.cn; Zuo, Xian-Jun; Yang, Ze-Jin, E-mail: zejinyang@zjut.edu.cn [Department of Applied Physics, College of Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023 (China); Gao, Qing-He [College of Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, China, Information Engineering College, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang 110847 (China); Linghu, Rong-Feng, E-mail: linghu@gznu.edu.cn [School of Physics and Electronics Sciences, Guizhou Education University, Guiyang 550018 (China); Guo, Yun-Dong, E-mail: g308yd@126.com [College of Engineering and Technology, Neijiang Normal University, Neijiang 641112 (China)

2016-04-28

Using a first-principles noncollinear wave-function-matching method, we studied the spin-transfer torques (STTs) in CoFe/Mg-B-O/CoFe(001) magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), where three different types of B-doped MgO in the spacer are considered, including B atoms replacing Mg atoms (Mg{sub 3}BO{sub 4}), B atoms replacing O atoms (Mg{sub 4}BO{sub 3}), and B atoms occupying interstitial positions (Mg{sub 4}BO{sub 4}) in MgO. A strong asymmetric angular dependence of STT can be obtained both in ballistic CoFe/Mg{sub 3}BO{sub 4} and CoFe/Mg{sub 4}BO{sub 4} based MTJs, whereas a nearly symmetric STT curve is observed in the junctions based on CoFe/Mg{sub 4}BO{sub 3}. Furthermore, the asymmetry of the angular dependence of STT can be suppressed significantly by the disorder of B distribution. Such skewness of STTs in the CoFe/Mg-B-O/CoFe MTJs could be attributed to the interfacial resonance states induced by the B diffusion into MgO spacer.

Characterization of magnetic tunnel junction test pads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østerberg, Frederik Westergaard; Kjær, Daniel; Nielsen, Peter Folmer

2015-01-01

We show experimentally as well as theoretically that patterned magnetic tunnel junctions can be characterized using the current-in-plane tunneling (CIPT) method, and the key parameters, the resistance-area product (RA) and the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR), can be determined. The CIPT method...

Multiband corrections for the semi-classical simulation of interband tunneling in GaAs tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Louarn, K.; Claveau, Y.; Hapiuk, D.; Fontaine, C.; Arnoult, A.; Taliercio, T.; Licitra, C.; Piquemal, F.; Bounouh, A.; Cavassilas, N.; Almuneau, G.

2017-09-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of multiband corrections on the current density in GaAs tunnel junctions (TJs) calculated with a refined yet simple semi-classical interband tunneling model (SCITM). The non-parabolicity of the considered bands and the spin-orbit effects are considered by using a recently revisited SCITM available in the literature. The model is confronted to experimental results from a series of molecular beam epitaxy grown GaAs TJs and to numerical results obtained with a full quantum model based on the non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism and a 6-band k.p Hamiltonian. We emphasize the importance of considering the non-parabolicity of the conduction band by two different measurements of the energy-dependent electron effective mass in N-doped GaAs. We also propose an innovative method to compute the non-uniform electric field in the TJ for the SCITM simulations, which is of prime importance for a successful operation of the model. We demonstrate that, when considering the multiband corrections and this new computation of the non-uniform electric field, the SCITM succeeds in predicting the electrical characteristics of GaAs TJs, and are also in agreement with the quantum model. Besides the fundamental study of the tunneling phenomenon in TJs, the main benefit of this SCITM is that it can be easily embedded into drift-diffusion software, which are the most widely-used simulation tools for electronic and opto-electronic devices such as multi-junction solar cells, tunnel field-effect transistors, or vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.

First-principles spin-transfer torque in CuMnAs |GaP |CuMnAs junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Stamenova, Maria; Mohebbi, Razie; Seyed-Yazdi, Jamileh; Rungger, Ivan; Sanvito, Stefano

2017-02-01

We demonstrate that an all-antiferromagnetic tunnel junction with current perpendicular to the plane geometry can be used as an efficient spintronic device with potential high-frequency operation. By using state-of-the-art density functional theory combined with quantum transport, we show that the Néel vector of the electrodes can be manipulated by spin-transfer torque. This is staggered over the two different magnetic sublattices and can generate dynamics and switching. At the same time the different magnetization states of the junction can be read by standard tunneling magnetoresistance. Calculations are performed for CuMnAs |GaP |CuMnAs junctions with different surface terminations between the antiferromagnetic CuMnAs electrodes and the insulating GaP spacer. We find that the torque remains staggered regardless of the termination, while the magnetoresistance depends on the microscopic details of the interface.

Planar Josephson tunnel junctions in a transverse magnetic field

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Monacoa, R.; Aarøe, Morten; Mygind, Jesper

2007-01-01

demagnetization effects imposed by the tunnel barrier and electrodes geometry are important. Measurements of the junction critical current versus magnetic field in planar Nb-based high-quality junctions with different geometry, size, and critical current density show that it is advantageous to use a transverse......Traditionally, since the discovery of the Josephson effect in 1962, the magnetic diffraction pattern of planar Josephson tunnel junctions has been recorded with the field applied in the plane of the junction. Here we discuss the static junction properties in a transverse magnetic field where...

Tunnel junctions with multiferroic barriers

Science.gov (United States)

Gajek, Martin; Bibes, Manuel; Fusil, Stéphane; Bouzehouane, Karim; Fontcuberta, Josep; Barthélémy, Agnès; Fert, Albert

2007-04-01

Multiferroics are singular materials that can exhibit simultaneously electric and magnetic orders. Some are ferroelectric and ferromagnetic and provide the opportunity to encode information in electric polarization and magnetization to obtain four logic states. However, such materials are rare and schemes allowing a simple electrical readout of these states have not been demonstrated in the same device. Here, we show that films of La0.1Bi0.9MnO3 (LBMO) are ferromagnetic and ferroelectric, and retain both ferroic properties down to a thickness of 2nm. We have integrated such ultrathin multiferroic films as barriers in spin-filter-type tunnel junctions that exploit the magnetic and ferroelectric degrees of freedom of LBMO. Whereas ferromagnetism permits read operations reminiscent of magnetic random access memories (MRAM), the electrical switching evokes a ferroelectric RAM write operation. Significantly, our device does not require the destructive ferroelectric readout, and therefore represents an advance over the original four-state memory concept based on multiferroics.

Simulation of magnetic tunnel junction in ferromagnetic/insulator/semiconductor structure

Science.gov (United States)

Kostrov, Alexander I.; Stempitsky, Viktor R.; Kazimirchik, Vladimir N.

2008-07-01

In this work, we present a physical model and electrical macromodel for simulation of Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) effect based on Ferromagnetic/Insulator/Semiconductor (FIS) nanostructure. A modified Brinkman model has been proposed by including the voltage-dependent density of states of the ferromagnetic electrodes in order to explain the bias dependence magnitoresistance. The model takes into account injection of carriers in the semiconductor and Shottky barrier, electron tunneling through thin insulator and spin-transfer torque writing approach in memory cell. These very promising features should constitute the third generation of Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM). Besides, the model can efficiently be used to design magnetic CMOS circuits. The behavioral macro-model has been developed by means of Verilog-AMS language and implemented on the Cadence Virtuoso platform with Spectre simulator.

Magnetic interaction between spatially extended superconducting tunnel junctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønbech-Jensen, Niels; Samuelsen, Mogens Rugholm

2002-01-01

A general description of magnetic interactions between superconducting tunnel junctions is given. The description covers a wide range of possible experimental systems, and we explicitly explore two experimentally relevant limits of coupled junctions. One is the limit of junctions with tunneling...... been considered through arrays of superconducting weak links based on semiconductor quantum wells with superconducting electrodes. We use the model to make direct interpretations of the published experiments and thereby propose that long-range magnetic interactions are responsible for the reported...

AlGaAs/InGaAlP tunnel junctions for multijunction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SHARPS,P.R.; LI,N.Y.; HILLS,J.S.; HOU,H.; CHANG,PING-CHIH; BACA,ALBERT G.

2000-05-16

Optimization of GaInP{sub 2}/GaAs dual and GaInP{sub 2}/GaAs/Ge triple junction cells, and development of future generation monolithic multi-junction cells will involve the development of suitable high bandgap tunnel junctions. There are three criteria that a tunnel junction must meet. First, the resistance of the junction must be kept low enough so that the series resistance of the overall device is not increased. For AMO, 1 sun operation, the tunnel junction resistance should be below 5 x 10{sup {minus}2} {Omega}-cm. Secondly, the peak current density for the tunnel junction must also be larger than the J{sub sc} of the cell so that the tunnel junction I-V curve does not have a deleterious effect on the I-V curve of the multi-junction device. Finally, the tunnel junction must be optically transparent, i.e., there must be a minimum of optical absorption of photons that will be collected by the underlying subcells. The paper reports the investigation of four high bandgap tunnel junctions grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition.

Nonequilibrium green function approach to elastic and inelastic spin-charge transport in topological insulator-based heterostructures and magnetic tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Mahfouzi, Farzad

Current and future technological needs increasingly motivate the intensive scientific research of the properties of materials at the nano-scale. One of the most important domains in this respect at present concerns nano-electronics and its diverse applications. The great interest in this domain arises from the potential reduction of the size of the circuit components, maintaining their quality and functionality, and aiming at greater efficiency, economy, and storage characteristics for the corresponding physical devices. The aim of this thesis is to present a contribution to the analysis of the electronic charge and spin transport phenomena that occur at the quantum level in nano-structures. This thesis spans the areas of quantum transport theory through time-dependent systems, electron-boson interacting systems and systems of interest to spintronics. A common thread in the thesis is to develop the theoretical foundations and computational algorithms to numerically simulate such systems. In order to optimize the numerical calculations I resort to different techniques (such as graph theory in finding inverse of a sparse matrix, adaptive grids for integrations and programming languages (e.g., MATLAB and C++) and distributed computing tools (MPI, CUDA). Outline of the Thesis: After giving an introduction to the topics covered in this thesis in Chapter 1, I present the theoretical foundations to the field of non-equilibrium quantum statistics in Chapter 2. The applications of this formalism and the results are covered in the subsequent chapters as follows: Spin and charge quantum pumping in time-dependent systems: Covered in Chapters 3, 4 and 5, this topics was initially motivated by experiments on measuring voltage signal from a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) exposed to a microwave radiation in ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) condition. In Chapter 3 we found a possible explanation for the finite voltage signal measured from a tunnel junction consisting of only a single

The two Josephson junction flux qubit with large tunneling amplitude

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shnurkov, V.I.; Soroka, A.A.; Mel'nik, S.I.

2008-01-01

In this paper we discuss solid-state nanoelectronic realizations of Josephson flux qubits with large tunneling amplitude between the two macroscopic states. The latter can be controlled via the height and form of the potential barrier, which is determined by quantum-state engineering of the flux qubit circuit. The simplest circuit of the flux qubit is a superconducting loop interrupted by a Josephson nanoscale tunnel junction. The tunneling amplitude between two macroscopically different states can be increased substantially by engineering of the qubit circuit if the tunnel junction is replaced by a ScS contact. However, only Josephson tunnel junctions are particularly suitable for large-scale integration circuits and quantum detectors with present-day technology. To overcome this difficulty we consider here a flux qubit with high energy-level separation between the 'ground' and 'excited' states, consisting of a superconducting loop with two low-capacitance Josephson tunnel junctions in series. We demonstrate that for real parameters of resonant superposition between the two macroscopic states the tunneling amplitude can reach values greater than 1 K. Analytical results for the tunneling amplitude obtained within the semiclassical approximation by the instanton technique show good correlation with a numerical solution

Spin tunneling and manipulation in nanostructures.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherman, E Ya; Ban, Yue; Gulyaev, L V; Khomitsky, D V

2012-09-01

The results for joint effects of tunneling and spin-orbit coupling on spin dynamics in nanostructures are presented for systems with discrete and continuous spectra. We demonstrate that tunneling plays the crucial role in the spin dynamics and the abilities of spin manipulation by external electric field. This result can be important for design of nanostructures-based spintronics devices.

Reactive tunnel junctions in electrically driven plasmonic nanorod metamaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pan; Krasavin, Alexey V.; Nasir, Mazhar E.; Dickson, Wayne; Zayats, Anatoly V.

2018-02-01

Non-equilibrium hot carriers formed near the interfaces of semiconductors or metals play a crucial role in chemical catalysis and optoelectronic processes. In addition to optical illumination, an efficient way to generate hot carriers is by excitation with tunnelling electrons. Here, we show that the generation of hot electrons makes the nanoscale tunnel junctions highly reactive and facilitates strongly confined chemical reactions that can, in turn, modulate the tunnelling processes. We designed a device containing an array of electrically driven plasmonic nanorods with up to 1011 tunnel junctions per square centimetre, which demonstrates hot-electron activation of oxidation and reduction reactions in the junctions, induced by the presence of O2 and H2 molecules, respectively. The kinetics of the reactions can be monitored in situ following the radiative decay of tunnelling-induced surface plasmons. This electrically driven plasmonic nanorod metamaterial platform can be useful for the development of nanoscale chemical and optoelectronic devices based on electron tunnelling.

delta-biased Josephson tunnel junctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Monaco, R.; Mygind, Jesper; Koshelet, V.

2010-01-01

Abstract: The behavior of a long Josephson tunnel junction drastically depends on the distribution of the dc bias current. We investigate the case in which the bias current is fed in the central point of a one-dimensional junction. Such junction configuration has been recently used to detect...... the persistent currents circulating in a superconducting loop. Analytical and numerical results indicate that the presence of fractional vortices leads to remarkable differences from the conventional case of uniformly distributed dc bias current. The theoretical findings are supported by detailed measurements...

Giant tunneling electroresistance effect driven by an electrically controlled spin valve at a complex oxide interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, J D; Tsymbal, E Y

2011-04-15

A giant tunneling electroresistance effect may be achieved in a ferroelectric tunnel junction by exploiting the magnetoelectric effect at the interface between the ferroelectric barrier and a magnetic La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO3 electrode. Using first-principles density-functional theory we demonstrate that a few magnetic monolayers of La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO3 near the interface act, in response to ferroelectric polarization reversal, as an atomic-scale spin valve by filtering spin-dependent current. This produces more than an order of magnitude change in conductance, and thus constitutes a giant resistive switching effect.

The critical current of point symmetric Josephson tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monaco, Roberto

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We disclose some geometrical properties of the critical current field dependence that apply to a large class of Josephson junctions characterized by a point symmetric shape. • The developed theory is valid for any orientation of the applied magnetic field, therefore it allows the determine the consequences of field misalignment in the experimental setups. • We also address that the threshold curves of Josephson tunnel junctions with complex shapes can be expressed as a linear combination of the threshold curves of junctions with simpler point symmetric shapes. - Abstract: The physics of Josephson tunnel junctions drastically depends on their geometrical configurations. The shape of the junction determines the specific form of the magnetic-field dependence of its Josephson current. Here we address the magnetic diffraction patterns of specially shaped planar Josephson tunnel junctions in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field of arbitrary orientations. We focus on a wide ensemble of junctions whose shape is invariant under point reflection. We analyze the implications of this type of isometry and derive the threshold curves of junctions whose shape is the union or the relative complement of two point symmetric plane figures.

Microscopic tunneling theory of long Josephson junctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønbech-Jensen, N.; Hattel, Søren A.; Samuelsen, Mogens Rugholm

1992-01-01

We present a numerical scheme for solving a nonlinear partial integro-differential equation with nonlocal time dependence. The equation describes the dynamics in a long Josephson junction modeled by use of the microscopic theory for tunneling between superconductors. We demonstrate that the detai......We present a numerical scheme for solving a nonlinear partial integro-differential equation with nonlocal time dependence. The equation describes the dynamics in a long Josephson junction modeled by use of the microscopic theory for tunneling between superconductors. We demonstrate...

Spintronic logic design methodology based on spin Hall effect–driven magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Wang; Zhang, Youguang; Zhao, Weisheng; Wang, Zhaohao; Klein, Jacques-Olivier; Lv, Weifeng

2016-01-01

Conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology is now approaching its physical scaling limits to enable Moore’s law to continue. Spintronic devices, as one of the potential alternatives, show great promise to replace CMOS technology for next-generation low-power integrated circuits in nanoscale technology nodes. Until now, spintronic memory has been successfully commercialized. However spintronic logic still faces many critical challenges (e.g. direct cascading capability and small operation gain) before it can be practically applied. In this paper, we propose a standard complimentary spintronic logic (CSL) design methodology to form a CMOS-like logic design paradigm. Using the spin Hall effect (SHE)-driven magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device as an example, we demonstrate CSL implementation, functionality and performance. This logic family provides a unified design methodology for spintronic logic circuits and partly solves the challenges of direct cascading capability and small operation gain in the previously proposed spintronic logic designs. By solving a modified Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation, the magnetization dynamics in the free layer of the MTJ is theoretically described and a compact electrical model is developed. With this electrical model, numerical simulations have been performed to evaluate the functionality and performance of the proposed CSL design. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed CSL design paradigm is rather promising for low-power logic computing. (paper)

Velocity barrier-controlled of spin-valley polarized transport in monolayer WSe2 junction

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Xuejun; Lv, Qiang; Cao, Zhenzhou

2018-05-01

In this work, we have theoretically investigated the influence of velocity barrier on the spin-valley polarized transport in monolayer (ML) WSe2 junction with a large spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Both the spin-valley resolved transmission probabilities and conductance are strong dependent on the velocity barrier, as the velocity barrier decreases to 0.06, a spin-valley polarization of exceeding 90% is observed, which is distinct from the ML MoS2 owing to incommensurable SOC. In addition, the spin-valley polarization is further increased above 95% in a ML WSe2 superlattice, in particular, it's found many extraordinary velocity barrier-dependent transport gaps for multiple barrier due to evanescent tunneling. Our results may open an avenue for the velocity barrier-controlled high-efficiency spin and valley polarizations in ML WSe2-based electronic devices.

Single-electron tunnel junction array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Likharev, K.K.; Bakhvalov, N.S.; Kazacha, G.S.; Serdyukova, S.I.

1989-01-01

The authors have carried out an analysis of statics and dynamics of uniform one-dimensional arrays of ultrasmall tunnel junctions. The correlated single-electron tunneling in the junctions of the array results in its behavior qualitatively similar to that of the Josephson transmission line. In particular, external electric fields applied to the array edges can inject single-electron-charged solitons into the array interior. Shape of such soliton and character of its interactions with other solitons and the array edges are very similar to those of the Josephson vortices (sine-Gordon solitons) in the Josephson transmission line. Under certain conditions, a coherent motion of the soliton train along the array is possible, resulting in generation of narrowband SET oscillations with frequency f/sub s/ = /e where is the dc current flowing along the array

Highly doped layer for tunnel junctions in solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Fetzer, Christopher M.

2017-08-01

A highly doped layer for interconnecting tunnel junctions in multijunction solar cells is presented. The highly doped layer is a delta doped layer in one or both layers of a tunnel diode junction used to connect two or more p-on-n or n-on-p solar cells in a multijunction solar cell. A delta doped layer is made by interrupting the epitaxial growth of one of the layers of the tunnel diode, depositing a delta dopant at a concentration substantially greater than the concentration used in growing the layer of the tunnel diode, and then continuing to epitaxially grow the remaining tunnel diode.

Spin valve-like magnetic tunnel diode exhibiting giant positive junction magnetoresistance at low temperature in Co2MnSi/SiO2/p-Si heterostructure

Science.gov (United States)

Maji, Nilay; Kar, Uddipta; Nath, T. K.

2018-02-01

The rectifying magnetic tunnel diode has been fabricated by growing Co2MnSi (CMS) Heusler alloy film carefully on a properly cleaned p-Si (100) substrate with the help of electron beam physical vapor deposition technique and its structural, electrical and magnetic properties have been experimentally investigated in details. The electronic- and magneto-transport properties at various isothermal conditions have been studied in the temperature regime of 78-300 K. The current-voltage ( I- V) characteristics of the junction show an excellent rectifying magnetic tunnel diode-like behavior throughout that temperature regime. The current ( I) across the junction has been found to decrease with the application of a magnetic field parallel to the plane of the CMS film clearly indicating positive junction magnetoresistance (JMR) of the heterostructure. When forward dc bias is applied to the heterostructure, the I- V characteristics are highly influenced on turning on the field B = 0.5 T at 78 K, and the forward current reduces abruptly (99.2% current reduction at 3 V) which is nearly equal to the order of the magnitude of the current observed in the reverse bias. Hence, our Co2MnSi/SiO2/p-Si heterostructure can perform in off ( I off)/on ( I on) states with the application of non-zero/zero magnetic field like a spin valve at low temperature (78 K).

Boosting spin-caloritronic effects by attractive correlations in molecular junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Weymann, Ireneusz

2016-01-25

In nanoscopic systems quantum confinement and interference can lead to an enhancement of thermoelectric properties as compared to conventional bulk materials. For nanostructures, such as molecules or quantum dots coupled to external leads, the thermoelectric figure of merit can reach or even exceed unity. Moreover, in the presence of external magnetic field or when the leads are ferromagnetic, an applied temperature gradient can generate a spin voltage and an associated spin current flow in the system, which makes such nanostructures particularly interesting for future thermoelectric applications. In this study, by using the numerical renormalization group method, we examine the spin-dependent thermoelectric transport properties of a molecular junction involving an orbital level with attractive Coulomb correlations coupled to ferromagnetic leads. We analyze how attractive correlations affect the spin-resolved transport properties of the system and find a nontrivial dependence of the conductance and tunnel magnetoresistance on the strength and sign of those correlations. We also demonstrate that attractive correlations can lead to an enhancement of the spin thermopower and the figure of merit, which can be controlled by a gate voltage.

Low Temperature Electrical Spin Injection from Highly Spin Polarized Co₂CrAl Heusler Alloy into p-Si.

Science.gov (United States)

Kar, Uddipta; Panda, J; Nath, T K

2018-06-01

The low temperature spin accumulation in p-Si using Co2CrAl/SiO2 tunnel junction has been investigated in detail. The heterojunction has been fabricated using electron beam evaporation (EBE) technique. The 3-terminal contacts in Hanle geometry has been made for spin transport measurements. The electrical transport properties have been investigated at different isothermal conditions in the temperature range of 10-300 K. The current-voltage characteristics of the junction shows excellent rectifying magnetic diode like behaviour in lower temperature range (below 200 K). At higher temperature, the junction shows nonlinear behaviour without rectifying characteristics. We have observed spin accumulation signal in p-Si semiconductor using SiO2/Co2CrAl tunnel junction in the low temperature regime (30-100 K). Hence the highly spin polarized Full Heusler alloys compounds, like Co2CrAl etc., are very attractive and can act as efficient tunnel device for spin injection in the area of spintronics devices in near future. The estimated spin life time is τ = 54 pS and spin diffusion length inside p-Si is LSD = 289 nm at 30 K for this heterostructure.

Quantum size effects on spin-tunneling time in a magnetic resonant tunneling diode

OpenAIRE

Saffarzadeh, Alireza; Daqiq, Reza

2009-01-01

We study theoretically the quantum size effects of a magnetic resonant tunneling diode (RTD) with a (Zn,Mn)Se dilute magnetic semiconductor layer on the spin-tunneling time and the spin polarization of the electrons. The results show that the spin-tunneling times may oscillate and a great difference between the tunneling time of the electrons with opposite spin directions can be obtained depending on the system parameters. We also study the effect of structural asymmetry which is related to t...

Magnetic tunnel junctions with monolayer hexagonal boron nitride tunnel barriers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piquemal-Banci, M.; Galceran, R.; Bouzehouane, K.; Anane, A.; Petroff, F.; Fert, A.; Dlubak, B.; Seneor, P. [Unité Mixte de Physique, CNRS, Thales, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Palaiseau 91767 (France); Caneva, S.; Martin, M.-B.; Weatherup, R. S.; Kidambi, P. R.; Robertson, J.; Hofmann, S. [Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB21PZ (United Kingdom); Xavier, S. [Thales Research and Technology, 1 avenue Augustin Fresnel, Palaiseau 91767 (France)

2016-03-07

We report on the integration of atomically thin 2D insulating hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) tunnel barriers into Co/h-BN/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). The h-BN monolayer is directly grown by chemical vapor deposition on Fe. The Conductive Tip Atomic Force Microscopy (CT-AFM) measurements reveal the homogeneity of the tunnel behavior of our h-BN layers. As expected for tunneling, the resistance depends exponentially on the number of h-BN layers. The h-BN monolayer properties are also characterized through integration into complete MTJ devices. A Tunnel Magnetoresistance of up to 6% is observed for a MTJ based on a single atomically thin h-BN layer.

Sidewall GaAs tunnel junctions fabricated using molecular layer epitaxy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takeo Ohno and Yutaka Oyama

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this article we review the fundamental properties and applications of sidewall GaAs tunnel junctions. Heavily impurity-doped GaAs epitaxial layers were prepared using molecular layer epitaxy (MLE, in which intermittent injections of precursors in ultrahigh vacuum were applied, and sidewall tunnel junctions were fabricated using a combination of device mesa wet etching of the GaAs MLE layer and low-temperature area-selective regrowth. The fabricated tunnel junctions on the GaAs sidewall with normal mesa orientation showed a record peak current density of 35 000 A cm-2. They can potentially be used as terahertz devices such as a tunnel injection transit time effect diode or an ideal static induction transistor.

Spin inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy on local spin adsorbed on surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Fransson, J

2009-06-01

The recent experimental conductance measurements taken on magnetic impurities on metallic surfaces, using scanning tunneling microscopy technique and suggesting occurrence of inelastic scattering processes, are theoretically addressed. We argue that the observed conductance signatures are caused by transitions between the spin states that have opened due to, for example, exchange coupling between the local spins and the tunneling electrons, and are directly interpretable in terms of inelastic transitions energies. Feasible measurements using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy that would enable new information about the excitation spectrum of the local spins are discussed.

Dependency of tunneling magnetoresistance ratio on Pt seed-layer thickness for double MgO perpendicular magnetic tunneling junction spin-valves with a top Co2Fe6B2 free layer ex-situ annealed at 400 °C.

Science.gov (United States)

Takemura, Yasutaka; Lee, Du-Yeong; Lee, Seung-Eun; Park, Jea-Gun

2016-12-02

For the double MgO based perpendicular magnetic tunneling junction (p-MTJ) spin-valves with a top Co 2 Fe 6 B 2 free layer ex situ annealed at 400 °C, the tunneling-magnetoresistance ratio (TMR) strongly depended on the platinum (Pt) seed layer thickness (t Pt ): it peaked (∼134%) at a specific t Pt (3.3 nm). The TMR ratio was initially and slightly increased from 113%-134% by the enhancement of the magnetic moment of the Co 2 Fe 6 B 2 pinned layer when t Pt increased from 2.0-3.3 nm, and then rapidly decreased from 134%-38.6% by the degrading face-centered-cubic crystallinity of the MgO tunneling barrier when t Pt increased from 3.3-14.3 nm.

TMR- and TAMR-effects of (Ga,Mn)As and GaAs tunnel junctions; TMR- und TAMR-Effekt an (Ga,Mn)As und GaAs Tunnelstrukturen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brinkmeier, Eva

2009-07-30

This thesis is concerned with the experimental investigation of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and tunnel anistropic magnetoresistance (TAMR) in GaAs and (Ga,Mn)As tunnel junction. A special emphasis was put on the study of the newly discovered TAMR effect, which consists in the variation of the TMR with the magnetization's angle. The tunnel junctions were fabricated by means of optical lithography and wet chemical etching. The dependence of the TAMR effect on the layer system, the barrier thickness, the bias voltage, the temperature and the applied magnetic field magnitude was subsequently examined. The conducted measurements on (Ga,Mn)As junctions showed a TMR effect as well as various anisotropic effects which are in good agreement with the experimental reports published so far. The observed dependences of the TAMR effect on the aforementioned parameters were discussed within the framework of two distinct preexisting theoretical models and the experimental data could be explained by the superimposition of two effects stemming in one case from the spin orbit coupling in the (Ga,Mn)As layer and in the other from the concurrent action of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin orbit interaction within the barrier. (orig.)

Tunneling rates in electron transport through double-barrier molecular junctions in a scanning tunneling microscope.

Science.gov (United States)

Nazin, G V; Wu, S W; Ho, W

2005-06-21

The scanning tunneling microscope enables atomic-scale measurements of electron transport through individual molecules. Copper phthalocyanine and magnesium porphine molecules adsorbed on a thin oxide film grown on the NiAl(110) surface were probed. The single-molecule junctions contained two tunneling barriers, vacuum gap, and oxide film. Differential conductance spectroscopy shows that electron transport occurs via vibronic states of the molecules. The intensity of spectral peaks corresponding to the individual vibronic states depends on the relative electron tunneling rates through the two barriers of the junction, as found by varying the vacuum gap tunneling rate by changing the height of the scanning tunneling microscope tip above the molecule. A simple, sequential tunneling model explains the observed trends.

Spin asymmetry calculations of the TMR-V curves in single and double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Useinov, Arthur; Kosel, Jü rgen

2011-01-01

in the single as well as double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions (SMTJ & DMTJ, which are constructed from CoFeB/MgO interfaces) and numerically estimate the possible difference of the TMR-V a curves for negative and positive voltages in the homojunctions

Magnetic and transport properties of single and double perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuchet, Lea

2015-01-01

Due to their advantageous properties in terms of data retention, storage density and critical current density for Spin Transfer Torque (STT) switching, the magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy have become predominant in the developments for MRAM applications. The aim of this thesis is to improve the anisotropy and transport properties of such structures and to realize even more complex stacks such as perpendicular double junctions. Studies on the magnetic properties and Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR) measurements showed that to optimize the performances of the junctions, all the thicknesses of the different layers constituting the stack have to be adapted. To guaranty both a large TMR as well a strong perpendicular anisotropy, compromises are most of the time needed. Studies as a function of magnetic thickness enabled to extract the saturation magnetization, the critical thickness and the magnetic dead layer thickness both in the bottom reference and the top storage layer in structures capped with Ta. This type of junction could be tested electrically after patterning the sample into nano-pillars. Knowing that perpendicular anisotropy mostly arises at the metal/oxide interface, the Ta capping layer was replaced by a MgO one, leading to a huge increase in the anisotropy of the free layer. A second top reference was then added on such a stack to create functional perpendicular double junctions. CoFeB/insertion/CoFeB synthetic antiferromagnetic storage layers could be developed and were proved to be stable enough to replace the standard Co/Pt-based reference layers. (author) [fr

Harmonic and reactive behavior of the quasiparticle tunnel current in SIS junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rashid, H., E-mail: hawal@chalmers.se; Desmaris, V.; Pavolotsky, A.; Belitsky, V. [Group for Advanced Receiver Development, Earth and Space Sciences Department, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, 412 96 (Sweden)

2016-04-15

In this paper, we show theoretically and experimentally that the reactive quasiparticle tunnel current of the superconductor tunnel junction could be directly measured at specific bias voltages for the higher harmonics of the quasiparticle tunnel current. We used the theory of quasiparticle tunneling to study the higher harmonics of the quasiparticle tunnel current in superconducting tunnel junction in the presence of rf irradiation. The impact of the reactive current on the harmonic behavior of the quasiparticle tunnel current was carefully studied by implementing a practical model with four parameters to model the dc I-V characteristics of the superconducting tunnel junction. The measured reactive current at the specific bias voltage is in good agreement with our theoretically calculated reactive current through the Kramers-Kronig transform. This study also shows that there is an excellent correspondence between the behavior of the predicted higher harmonics using the previously established theory of quasiparticle tunnel current in superconducting tunnel junctions by J.R. Tucker and M.J. Feldman and the measurements presented in this paper.

Harmonic and reactive behavior of the quasiparticle tunnel current in SIS junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashid, H.; Desmaris, V.; Pavolotsky, A.; Belitsky, V.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we show theoretically and experimentally that the reactive quasiparticle tunnel current of the superconductor tunnel junction could be directly measured at specific bias voltages for the higher harmonics of the quasiparticle tunnel current. We used the theory of quasiparticle tunneling to study the higher harmonics of the quasiparticle tunnel current in superconducting tunnel junction in the presence of rf irradiation. The impact of the reactive current on the harmonic behavior of the quasiparticle tunnel current was carefully studied by implementing a practical model with four parameters to model the dc I-V characteristics of the superconducting tunnel junction. The measured reactive current at the specific bias voltage is in good agreement with our theoretically calculated reactive current through the Kramers-Kronig transform. This study also shows that there is an excellent correspondence between the behavior of the predicted higher harmonics using the previously established theory of quasiparticle tunnel current in superconducting tunnel junctions by J.R. Tucker and M.J. Feldman and the measurements presented in this paper.

Homoepitaxial graphene tunnel barriers for spin transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam L. Friedman

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Tunnel barriers are key elements for both charge-and spin-based electronics, offering devices with reduced power consumption and new paradigms for information processing. Such devices require mating dissimilar materials, raising issues of heteroepitaxy, interface stability, and electronic states that severely complicate fabrication and compromise performance. Graphene is the perfect tunnel barrier. It is an insulator out-of-plane, possesses a defect-free, linear habit, and is impervious to interdiffusion. Nonetheless, true tunneling between two stacked graphene layers is not possible in environmental conditions usable for electronics applications. However, two stacked graphene layers can be decoupled using chemical functionalization. Here, we demonstrate that hydrogenation or fluorination of graphene can be used to create a tunnel barrier. We demonstrate successful tunneling by measuring non-linear IV curves and a weakly temperature dependent zero-bias resistance. We demonstrate lateral transport of spin currents in non-local spin-valve structures, and determine spin lifetimes with the non-local Hanle effect. We compare the results for hydrogenated and fluorinated tunnel and we discuss the possibility that ferromagnetic moments in the hydrogenated graphene tunnel barrier affect the spin transport of our devices.

Homoepitaxial graphene tunnel barriers for spin transport

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Adam L.; van't Erve, Olaf M. J.; Robinson, Jeremy T.; Whitener, Keith E.; Jonker, Berend T.

2016-05-01

Tunnel barriers are key elements for both charge-and spin-based electronics, offering devices with reduced power consumption and new paradigms for information processing. Such devices require mating dissimilar materials, raising issues of heteroepitaxy, interface stability, and electronic states that severely complicate fabrication and compromise performance. Graphene is the perfect tunnel barrier. It is an insulator out-of-plane, possesses a defect-free, linear habit, and is impervious to interdiffusion. Nonetheless, true tunneling between two stacked graphene layers is not possible in environmental conditions usable for electronics applications. However, two stacked graphene layers can be decoupled using chemical functionalization. Here, we demonstrate that hydrogenation or fluorination of graphene can be used to create a tunnel barrier. We demonstrate successful tunneling by measuring non-linear IV curves and a weakly temperature dependent zero-bias resistance. We demonstrate lateral transport of spin currents in non-local spin-valve structures, and determine spin lifetimes with the non-local Hanle effect. We compare the results for hydrogenated and fluorinated tunnel and we discuss the possibility that ferromagnetic moments in the hydrogenated graphene tunnel barrier affect the spin transport of our devices.

Hybrid tunnel junction contacts to III–nitride light-emitting diodes

KAUST Repository

Young, Erin C.; Yonkee, Benjamin P.; Wu, Feng; Oh, Sang Ho; DenBaars, Steven P.; Nakamura, Shuji; Speck, James S.

2016-01-01

In this work, we demonstrate highly doped GaN p–n tunnel junction (TJ) contacts on III–nitride heterostructures where the active region of the device and the top p-GaN layers were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition and highly doped n-GaN was grown by NH3 molecular beam epitaxy to form the TJ. The regrowth interface in these hybrid devices was found to have a high concentration of oxygen, which likely enhanced tunneling through the diode. For optimized regrowth, the best tunnel junction device had a total differential resistivity of 1.5 × 10−4 Ω cm2, including contact resistance. As a demonstration, a blue-light-emitting diode on a ($20\\bar{2}\\bar{1}$) GaN substrate with a hybrid tunnel junction and an n-GaN current spreading layer was fabricated and compared with a reference sample with a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer. The tunnel junction LED showed a lower forward operating voltage and a higher efficiency at a low current density than the TCO LED.

Hybrid tunnel junction contacts to III–nitride light-emitting diodes

KAUST Repository

Young, Erin C.

2016-01-26

In this work, we demonstrate highly doped GaN p–n tunnel junction (TJ) contacts on III–nitride heterostructures where the active region of the device and the top p-GaN layers were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition and highly doped n-GaN was grown by NH3 molecular beam epitaxy to form the TJ. The regrowth interface in these hybrid devices was found to have a high concentration of oxygen, which likely enhanced tunneling through the diode. For optimized regrowth, the best tunnel junction device had a total differential resistivity of 1.5 × 10−4 Ω cm2, including contact resistance. As a demonstration, a blue-light-emitting diode on a ($20\\\\bar{2}\\\\bar{1}$) GaN substrate with a hybrid tunnel junction and an n-GaN current spreading layer was fabricated and compared with a reference sample with a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer. The tunnel junction LED showed a lower forward operating voltage and a higher efficiency at a low current density than the TCO LED.

Spin-flip tunneling in quantum dots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schreiber, Lars; Braakman, Floris; Meunier, Tristan; Calado, Victor; Vandersypen, Lieven [Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft (Netherlands); Wegscheider, Werner [Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg (Germany)

2010-07-01

Electron spins in a gate-defined double quantum dot formed in a GaAs/(Al,Ga)As 2DEG are promising candidates for quantum information processing as coherent single spin rotation and spin swap has been demonstrated recently. In this system we investigate the two-electron spin dynamics in the presence of microwaves (5.20 GHz) applied to one side gate. During microwave excitation we observe characteristic photon assisted tunneling (PAT) peaks at the (1,1) to (0,2) charge transition. Some of the PAT peaks are attributed to photon tunneling events between the singlet S(0,2) and the singlet S(1,1) states, a spin-conserving transition. Surprisingly, other PAT peaks stand out by their different external magnetic field dependence. They correspond to tunneling involving a spin-flip, from the (0,2) singlet to a (1,1) triplet. The full spectrum of the observed PAT lines is captured by simulations. This process offers novel possibilities for 2-electron spin manipulation and read-out.

Atomically Thin Al2O3 Films for Tunnel Junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Wilt, Jamie; Gong, Youpin; Gong, Ming; Su, Feifan; Xu, Huikai; Sakidja, Ridwan; Elliot, Alan; Lu, Rongtao; Zhao, Shiping; Han, Siyuan; Wu, Judy Z.

2017-06-01

Metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions are common throughout the microelectronics industry. The industry standard AlOx tunnel barrier, formed through oxygen diffusion into an Al wetting layer, is plagued by internal defects and pinholes which prevent the realization of atomically thin barriers demanded for enhanced quantum coherence. In this work, we employ in situ scanning tunneling spectroscopy along with molecular-dynamics simulations to understand and control the growth of atomically thin Al2O3 tunnel barriers using atomic-layer deposition. We find that a carefully tuned initial H2O pulse hydroxylated the Al surface and enabled the creation of an atomically thin Al2O3 tunnel barrier with a high-quality M -I interface and a significantly enhanced barrier height compared to thermal AlOx . These properties, corroborated by fabricated Josephson junctions, show that atomic-layer deposition Al2O3 is a dense, leak-free tunnel barrier with a low defect density which can be a key component for the next generation of metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions.

Tunneling spin injection into single layer graphene.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Wei; Pi, K; McCreary, K M; Li, Yan; Wong, Jared J I; Swartz, A G; Kawakami, R K

2010-10-15

We achieve tunneling spin injection from Co into single layer graphene (SLG) using TiO₂ seeded MgO barriers. A nonlocal magnetoresistance (ΔR(NL)) of 130  Ω is observed at room temperature, which is the largest value observed in any material. Investigating ΔR(NL) vs SLG conductivity from the transparent to the tunneling contact regimes demonstrates the contrasting behaviors predicted by the drift-diffusion theory of spin transport. Furthermore, tunnel barriers reduce the contact-induced spin relaxation and are therefore important for future investigations of spin relaxation in graphene.

Coexistance of Giant Tunneling Electroresistance and Magnetoresistance in an All-Oxide Composite Magnetic Tunnel Junction

KAUST Repository

Caffrey, Nuala Mai

2012-11-30

We propose, by performing advanced abinitio electron transport calculations, an all-oxide composite magnetic tunnel junction, within which both large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and tunneling electroresistance (TER) effects can coexist. The TMR originates from the symmetry-driven spin filtering provided by an insulating BaTiO3 barrier to the electrons injected from the SrRuO3 electrodes. Following recent theoretical suggestions, the TER effect is achieved by intercalating a thin insulating layer, here SrTiO3, at one of the SrRuO3/BaTiO3 interfaces. As the complex band structure of SrTiO3 has the same symmetry as that of BaTiO3, the inclusion of such an intercalated layer does not negatively alter the TMR and in fact increases it. Crucially, the magnitude of the TER also scales with the thickness of the SrTiO3 layer. The SrTiO3 thickness becomes then a single control parameter for both the TMR and the TER effect. This protocol offers a practical way to the fabrication of four-state memory cells. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Coexistance of Giant Tunneling Electroresistance and Magnetoresistance in an All-Oxide Composite Magnetic Tunnel Junction

KAUST Repository

Caffrey, Nuala Mai; Archer, Thomas; Rungger, Ivan; Sanvito, Stefano

2012-01-01

We propose, by performing advanced abinitio electron transport calculations, an all-oxide composite magnetic tunnel junction, within which both large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and tunneling electroresistance (TER) effects can coexist. The TMR originates from the symmetry-driven spin filtering provided by an insulating BaTiO3 barrier to the electrons injected from the SrRuO3 electrodes. Following recent theoretical suggestions, the TER effect is achieved by intercalating a thin insulating layer, here SrTiO3, at one of the SrRuO3/BaTiO3 interfaces. As the complex band structure of SrTiO3 has the same symmetry as that of BaTiO3, the inclusion of such an intercalated layer does not negatively alter the TMR and in fact increases it. Crucially, the magnitude of the TER also scales with the thickness of the SrTiO3 layer. The SrTiO3 thickness becomes then a single control parameter for both the TMR and the TER effect. This protocol offers a practical way to the fabrication of four-state memory cells. © 2012 American Physical Society.

New materials research for high spin polarized current

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tezuka, Nobuki

2012-01-01

The author reports here a thorough investigation of structural and magnetic properties of Co 2 FeAl 0.5 Si 0.5 Heusler alloy films, and the tunnel magnetoresistance effect for junctions with Co 2 FeAl 0.5 Si 0.5 electrodes, spin injection into GaAs semiconductor from Co 2 FeAl 0.5 Si 0.5 , and spin filtering phenomena for junctions with CoFe 2 O 4 ferrite barrier. It was observed that tunnel magnetoresistance ratio up to 832%(386%) at 9 K (room temperature), which corresponds to the tunnel spin polarization of 0.90 (0.81) for the junctions using Co 2 FeAl 0.5 Si 0.5 Heusler electrodes by optimizing the fabrication condition. It was also found that the tunnel magnetoresistance ratio are almost the same between the junctions with Co 2 FeAl 0.5 Si 0.5 Heusler electrodes on Cr buffered (1 0 0) and (1 1 0) MgO substrates, which indicates that tunnel spin polarization of Co 2 FeAl 0.5 Si 0.5 for these two direction are almost the same. The next part of this paper is a spin filtering effect using a Co ferrite. The spin filtering effect was observed through a thin Co-ferrite barrier. The inverse type tunnel magnetoresistance ratio of −124% measured at 10 K was obtained. The inverse type magnetoresistance suggests the negative spin polarization of Co-ferrite barrier. The magnetoresistance ratio of −124% corresponds to the spin polarization of −0.77 by the Co-ferrite barrier. The last part is devoted to the spin injection from Co 2 FeAl 0.5 Si 0.5 into GaAs. The spin injection signal was clearly obtained by three terminal Hanle measurement. The spin relaxation time was estimated to be 380 ps measured at 5 K.

Spin dynamics in tunneling decay of a metastable state

OpenAIRE

Ban, Yue; Sherman, E. Ya.

2012-01-01

We analyze spin dynamics in the tunneling decay of a metastable localized state in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. We find that the spin polarization at short time scales is affected by the initial state while at long time scales both the probability- and the spin density exhibit diffraction-in-time phenomenon. We find that in addition to the tunneling time the tunneling in general can be characterized by a new parameter, the tunneling length. Although the tunneling length is independent...

Magnetoelectric coupling and spin-dependent tunneling in Fe/PbTiO3/Fe multiferroic heterostructure with a Ni monolayer inserted at one interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai, Jian-Qing; Zhang, Hu; Song, Yu-Min

2015-01-01

We report on first-principles calculations of a Ni monolayer inserted at one interface in the epitaxial Fe/PbTiO 3 /Fe multiferroic heterostructure, focusing on the magnetoelectric coupling and the spin-dependent transport properties. The results of magnetoelectric coupling calculations reveal an attractive approach to realize cumulative magnetoelectric effects in the ferromagnetic/ferroelectric/ferromagnetic superlattices. The underlying physics is attributed to the combinations of several different magnetoelectric coupling mechanisms such as interface bonding, spin-dependent screening, and different types of magnetic interactions. We also demonstrate that inserting a Ni monolayer at one interface in the Fe/PbTiO 3 /Fe multiferroic tunnel junction is an efficient method to produce considerable tunneling electroresistance effect by modifying the tunnel potential barrier and the interfacial electronic structure. Furthermore, coexistence of tunneling magnetoresistance and tunneling electroresistance leads to the emergence of four distinct resistance states, which can be served as a multistate-storage device. The complicated influencing factors including bulk properties of the ferromagnetic electrodes, decay rates of the evanescent states in the tunnel barrier, and the specific interfacial electronic structure provide us promising opportunities to design novel multiferroic tunnel junctions with excellent performances

Theory of electrically controlled resonant tunneling spin devices

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, David Z. -Y.; Cartoixa, Xavier

2004-01-01

We report device concepts that exploit spin-orbit coupling for creating spin polarized current sources using nonmagnetic semiconductor resonant tunneling heterostructures, without external magnetic fields. The resonant interband tunneling psin filter exploits large valence band spin-orbit interaction to provide strong spin selectivity.

Charge Transport in 2D DNA Tunnel Junction Diodes

KAUST Repository

Yoon, Minho

2017-11-06

Recently, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is studied for electronics due to its intrinsic benefits such as its natural plenitude, biodegradability, biofunctionality, and low-cost. However, its applications are limited to passive components because of inherent insulating properties. In this report, a metal-insulator-metal tunnel diode with Au/DNA/NiOx junctions is presented. Through the self-aligning process of DNA molecules, a 2D DNA nanosheet is synthesized and used as a tunneling barrier, and semitransparent conducting oxide (NiOx ) is applied as a top electrode for resolving metal penetration issues. This molecular device successfully operates as a nonresonant tunneling diode, and temperature-variable current-voltage analysis proves that Fowler-Nordheim tunneling is a dominant conduction mechanism at the junctions. DNA-based tunneling devices appear to be promising prototypes for nanoelectronics using biomolecules.

Charge Transport in 2D DNA Tunnel Junction Diodes

KAUST Repository

Yoon, Minho; Min, Sung-Wook; Dugasani, Sreekantha Reddy; Lee, Yong Uk; Oh, Min Suk; Anthopoulos, Thomas D.; Park, Sung Ha; Im, Seongil

2017-01-01

Recently, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is studied for electronics due to its intrinsic benefits such as its natural plenitude, biodegradability, biofunctionality, and low-cost. However, its applications are limited to passive components because of inherent insulating properties. In this report, a metal-insulator-metal tunnel diode with Au/DNA/NiOx junctions is presented. Through the self-aligning process of DNA molecules, a 2D DNA nanosheet is synthesized and used as a tunneling barrier, and semitransparent conducting oxide (NiOx ) is applied as a top electrode for resolving metal penetration issues. This molecular device successfully operates as a nonresonant tunneling diode, and temperature-variable current-voltage analysis proves that Fowler-Nordheim tunneling is a dominant conduction mechanism at the junctions. DNA-based tunneling devices appear to be promising prototypes for nanoelectronics using biomolecules.

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction with a strained Mn-based nanolayer

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, K. Z.; Ranjbar, R.; Okabayashi, J.; Miura, Y.; Sugihara, A.; Tsuchiura, H.; Mizukami, S.

2016-07-01

A magnetic tunnel junction with a perpendicular magnetic easy-axis (p-MTJ) is a key device for spintronic non-volatile magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM). Co-Fe-B alloy-based p-MTJs are being developed, although they have a large magnetisation and medium perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), which make it difficult to apply them to a future dense MRAM. Here, we demonstrate a p-MTJ with an epitaxially strained MnGa nanolayer grown on a unique CoGa buffer material, which exhibits a large PMA of more than 5 Merg/cm3 and magnetisation below 500 emu/cm3 these properties are sufficient for application to advanced MRAM. Although the experimental tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio is still low, first principles calculations confirm that the strain-induced crystal lattice distortion modifies the band dispersion along the tetragonal c-axis into the fully spin-polarised state; thus, a huge TMR effect can be generated in this p-MTJ.

Magnetoresistance of galfenol-based magnetic tunnel junction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gobaut, B.; Vinai, G.; Castán-Guerrero, C.; Krizmancic, D.; Panaccione, G.; Torelli, P.; Rafaqat, H.; Roddaro, S.; Rossi, G.; Eddrief, M.; Marangolo, M.

2015-01-01

The manipulation of ferromagnetic layer magnetization via electrical pulse is driving an intense research due to the important applications that this result will have on memory devices and sensors. In this study we realized a magnetotunnel junction in which one layer is made of Galfenol (Fe 1-x Ga x ) which possesses one of the highest magnetostrictive coefficient known. The multilayer stack has been grown by molecular beam epitaxy and e-beam evaporation. Optical lithography and physical etching have been combined to obtain 20x20 micron sized pillars. The obtained structures show tunneling conductivity across the junction and a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect of up to 11.5% in amplitude

Charge pumping by magnetization dynamics in magnetic and semimagnetic tunnel junctions with interfacial Rashba or bulk extrinsic spin-orbit coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Mahfouzi, Farzad; Fabian, Jaroslav; Nagaosa, Naoto; Nikolić, Branislav K.

2012-02-01

We develop a time-dependent nonequilibrium Green function (NEGF) approach to the problem of spin pumping by precessing magnetization in one of the ferromagnetic layers within F|I|F magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) or F|I|N semi-MTJs in the presence of intrinsic Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) at the F|I interface or the extrinsic SOC in the bulk of F layers of finite thickness (F, ferromagnet; N, normal metal; I, insulating barrier). To express the time-averaged pumped charge current, or the corresponding dc voltage signal in an open circuit, we construct a novel solution to double-time-Fourier-transformed NEGF equations. The two energy arguments of NEGFs in this representation are connected by the Floquet theorem describing multiphoton emission and absorption processes. Within this fully quantum-mechanical treatment of the conduction electrons, we find that (i) only in the presence of the interfacial Rashba SOC, the nonzero dc pumping voltage Vpump in F|I|N junctions can emerge at the adiabatic level (i.e., proportional to the microwave frequency), which could explain recent experiments on microwave-driven semi-MTJs [T. Moriyama , Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.100.067602 100, 067602 (2008)]; (ii) a unique signature of this charge pumping phenomenon, where the Rashba SOC within the precessing F layer participates in the pumping process, is a Vpump that changes sign as the function of the precession cone angle; (iii) unlike conventional spin pumping in MTJs in the absence of any SOC, where one emitted or absorbed microwave photon is sufficient to match the exact solution in the frame rotating with the magnetization, the presence of the Rashba SOC requires taking into account up to 10 photons in order to reach the asymptotic value of pumped charge current; (iv) the disorder within F|I|F MTJs can enhance Vpump in the quasiballistic transport regime; and (v) the extrinsic SOC in F|I|F MTJs causes spin relaxation and eventually the decay of Vpump

Macroscopic Refrigeration Using Superconducting Tunnel Junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Lowell, Peter; O'Neil, Galen; Underwood, Jason; Zhang, Xiaohang; Ullom, Joel

2014-03-01

Sub-kelvin temperatures are often a prerequisite for modern scientific experiments, such as quantum information processing, astrophysical missions looking for dark energy signatures and tabletop time resolved x-ray spectroscopy. Existing methods of reaching these temperatures, such as dilution refrigerators, are bulky and costly. In order to increase the accessibility of sub-Kelvin temperatures, we have developed a new method of refrigeration using normal-metal/insulator/superconductor (NIS) tunnel junctions. NIS junctions cool the electrons in the normal metal since the hottest electrons selectively tunnel from the normal metal into the superconductor. By extending the normal metal onto a thermally isolated membrane, the cold electrons can cool the phonons through the electron-phonon coupling. When these junctions are combined with a pumped 3He system, they provide a potentially inexpensive method of reaching these temperatures. Using only three devices, each with a junction area of approximately 3,500 μm2, we have cooled a 2 cm3 Cu plate from 290 mK to 256 mK. We will present these experimental results along with recent modeling predictions that strongly suggest that further refinements will allow cooling from 300 mK to 120 mK. This work is supported by the NASA APRA program.

Magnetoelectric coupling and spin-dependent tunneling in Fe/PbTiO{sub 3}/Fe multiferroic heterostructure with a Ni monolayer inserted at one interface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, Jian-Qing, E-mail: djqkust@sina.com; Zhang, Hu; Song, Yu-Min [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093 (China)

2015-08-07

We report on first-principles calculations of a Ni monolayer inserted at one interface in the epitaxial Fe/PbTiO{sub 3}/Fe multiferroic heterostructure, focusing on the magnetoelectric coupling and the spin-dependent transport properties. The results of magnetoelectric coupling calculations reveal an attractive approach to realize cumulative magnetoelectric effects in the ferromagnetic/ferroelectric/ferromagnetic superlattices. The underlying physics is attributed to the combinations of several different magnetoelectric coupling mechanisms such as interface bonding, spin-dependent screening, and different types of magnetic interactions. We also demonstrate that inserting a Ni monolayer at one interface in the Fe/PbTiO{sub 3}/Fe multiferroic tunnel junction is an efficient method to produce considerable tunneling electroresistance effect by modifying the tunnel potential barrier and the interfacial electronic structure. Furthermore, coexistence of tunneling magnetoresistance and tunneling electroresistance leads to the emergence of four distinct resistance states, which can be served as a multistate-storage device. The complicated influencing factors including bulk properties of the ferromagnetic electrodes, decay rates of the evanescent states in the tunnel barrier, and the specific interfacial electronic structure provide us promising opportunities to design novel multiferroic tunnel junctions with excellent performances.

Performance analysis of AlGaAs/GaAs tunnel junctions for ultra-high concentration photovoltaics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

García, I; Rey-Stolle, I; Algora, C

2012-01-01

An n ++ -GaAs/p ++ -AlGaAs tunnel junction with a peak current density of 10 100 A cm -2 is developed. This device is a tunnel junction for multijunction solar cells, grown lattice-matched on standard GaAs or Ge substrates, with the highest peak current density ever reported. The voltage drop for a current density equivalent to the operation of the multijunction solar cell up to 10 000 suns is below 5 mV. Trap-assisted tunnelling is proposed to be behind this performance, which cannot be justified by simple band-to-band tunnelling. The metal-organic vapour-phase epitaxy growth conditions, which are in the limits of the transport-limited regime, and the heavy tellurium doping levels are the proposed origins of the defects enabling trap-assisted tunnelling. The hypothesis of trap-assisted tunnelling is supported by the observed annealing behaviour of the tunnel junctions, which cannot be explained in terms of dopant diffusion or passivation. For the integration of these tunnel junctions into a triple-junction solar cell, AlGaAs barrier layers are introduced to suppress the formation of parasitic junctions, but this is found to significantly degrade the performance of the tunnel junctions. However, the annealed tunnel junctions with barrier layers still exhibit a peak current density higher than 2500 A cm -2 and a voltage drop at 10 000 suns of around 20 mV, which are excellent properties for tunnel junctions and mean they can serve as low-loss interconnections in multijunction solar cells working at ultra-high concentrations. (paper)

R.f.-induced steps in mutually coupled, two-dimensional distributed Josephson tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, U.; Dammschneider, P.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on the amplitudes of the current steps in the I-V characteristics of mutually coupled two-dimensional distributed Josephson tunnel junctions driven by microwaves. For this purpose we use a numerical computation algorithm based on a planar resonator model for the individual Josephson tunnel junctions to calculate the d.c. current density distribution. In addition to the fundamental microwave frequency, harmonic contents of the tunneling current are also considered. The lateral dimensions of the individual junctions are small compared to the microwave wavelength and the Josephson penetration depth, giving an almost constant current density distribution. Therefore, the coupled junctions can give much greater step amplitudes than a single junction with an equal tunneling area, because of their nonuniform current density distribution

Wide bandgap, strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions on InP substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lumb, M. P.; Yakes, M. K.; Schmieder, K. J.; Affouda, C. A.; Walters, R. J.; González, M.; Bennett, M. F.; Herrera, M.; Delgado, F. J.; Molina, S. I.

2016-01-01

In this work, the electrical performance of strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions with varying designs is presented. Strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions comprising compressively strained InAlAs wells and tensile-strained InAlAs barriers were grown on InP substrates using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. The use of InAlAs enables InP-based tunnel junction devices to be produced using wide bandgap layers, enabling high electrical performance with low absorption. The impact of well and barrier thickness on the electrical performance was investigated, in addition to the impact of Si and Be doping concentration. Finally, the impact of an InGaAs quantum well at the junction interface is presented, enabling a peak tunnel current density of 47.6 A/cm 2 to be realized.

Wide bandgap, strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions on InP substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lumb, M. P. [The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037 (United States); US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Yakes, M. K.; Schmieder, K. J.; Affouda, C. A.; Walters, R. J. [US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); González, M.; Bennett, M. F. [Sotera Defense Solutions, Annapolis Junction, Maryland 20701 (United States); US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Herrera, M.; Delgado, F. J.; Molina, S. I. [University of Cádiz, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz (Spain)

2016-05-21

In this work, the electrical performance of strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions with varying designs is presented. Strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions comprising compressively strained InAlAs wells and tensile-strained InAlAs barriers were grown on InP substrates using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. The use of InAlAs enables InP-based tunnel junction devices to be produced using wide bandgap layers, enabling high electrical performance with low absorption. The impact of well and barrier thickness on the electrical performance was investigated, in addition to the impact of Si and Be doping concentration. Finally, the impact of an InGaAs quantum well at the junction interface is presented, enabling a peak tunnel current density of 47.6 A/cm{sup 2} to be realized.

Tunneling explains efficient electron transport via protein junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Fereiro, Jerry A; Yu, Xi; Pecht, Israel; Sheves, Mordechai; Cuevas, Juan Carlos; Cahen, David

2018-05-15

Metalloproteins, proteins containing a transition metal ion cofactor, are electron transfer agents that perform key functions in cells. Inspired by this fact, electron transport across these proteins has been widely studied in solid-state settings, triggering the interest in examining potential use of proteins as building blocks in bioelectronic devices. Here, we report results of low-temperature (10 K) electron transport measurements via monolayer junctions based on the blue copper protein azurin (Az), which strongly suggest quantum tunneling of electrons as the dominant charge transport mechanism. Specifically, we show that, weakening the protein-electrode coupling by introducing a spacer, one can switch the electron transport from off-resonant to resonant tunneling. This is a consequence of reducing the electrode's perturbation of the Cu(II)-localized electronic state, a pattern that has not been observed before in protein-based junctions. Moreover, we identify vibronic features of the Cu(II) coordination sphere in transport characteristics that show directly the active role of the metal ion in resonance tunneling. Our results illustrate how quantum mechanical effects may dominate electron transport via protein-based junctions.

Giant electroresistance of super-tetragonal BiFeO3-based ferroelectric tunnel junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Hiroyuki; Garcia, Vincent; Fusil, Stéphane; Boyn, Sören; Marinova, Maya; Gloter, Alexandre; Xavier, Stéphane; Grollier, Julie; Jacquet, Eric; Carrétéro, Cécile; Deranlot, Cyrile; Bibes, Manuel; Barthélémy, Agnès

2013-06-25

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions enable a nondestructive readout of the ferroelectric state via a change of resistance induced by switching the ferroelectric polarization. We fabricated submicrometer solid-state ferroelectric tunnel junctions based on a recently discovered polymorph of BiFeO3 with giant axial ratio ("T-phase"). Applying voltage pulses to the junctions leads to the highest resistance changes (OFF/ON ratio >10,000) ever reported with ferroelectric tunnel junctions. Along with the good retention properties, this giant effect reinforces the interest in nonvolatile memories based on ferroelectric tunnel junctions. We also show that the changes in resistance scale with the nucleation and growth of ferroelectric domains in the ultrathin BiFeO3 (imaged by piezoresponse force microscopy), thereby suggesting potential as multilevel memory cells and memristors.

Magnetoresistance of galfenol-based magnetic tunnel junction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gobaut, B., E-mail: benoit.gobaut@elettra.eu [Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., S.S. 14 Km 163.5, Area Science Park, 34149 Trieste (Italy); Vinai, G.; Castán-Guerrero, C.; Krizmancic, D.; Panaccione, G.; Torelli, P. [Laboratorio TASC, IOM-CNR, S.S. 14km 163.5, Basovizza, 34149 Trieste (Italy); Rafaqat, H. [Laboratorio TASC, IOM-CNR, S.S. 14km 163.5, Basovizza, 34149 Trieste (Italy); ICTP, Trieste (Italy); Roddaro, S. [Laboratorio TASC, IOM-CNR, S.S. 14km 163.5, Basovizza, 34149 Trieste (Italy); NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore and Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, Piazza S. Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa (Italy); Rossi, G. [Laboratorio TASC, IOM-CNR, S.S. 14km 163.5, Basovizza, 34149 Trieste (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy); Eddrief, M.; Marangolo, M. [Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Paris 06, CNRS-UMR 7588, Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, 75005, Paris (France)

2015-12-15

The manipulation of ferromagnetic layer magnetization via electrical pulse is driving an intense research due to the important applications that this result will have on memory devices and sensors. In this study we realized a magnetotunnel junction in which one layer is made of Galfenol (Fe{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}) which possesses one of the highest magnetostrictive coefficient known. The multilayer stack has been grown by molecular beam epitaxy and e-beam evaporation. Optical lithography and physical etching have been combined to obtain 20x20 micron sized pillars. The obtained structures show tunneling conductivity across the junction and a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect of up to 11.5% in amplitude.

Bias voltage induced resistance switching effect in single-molecule magnets’ tunneling junction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhengzhong; Jiang, Liang

2014-09-01

An electric-pulse-induced reversible resistance change effect in a molecular magnetic tunneling junction, consisting of a single-molecule magnet (SMM) sandwiched in one nonmagnetic and one ferromagnetic electrode, is theoretically investigated. By applying a time-varying bias voltage, the SMM's spin orientation can be manipulated with large bias voltage pulses. Moreover, the different magnetic configuration at high-resistance/low-resistance states can be ‘read out’ by utilizing relative low bias voltage. This device scheme can be implemented with current technologies (Khajetoorians et al 2013 Science 339 55) and has potential application in molecular spintronics and high-density nonvolatile memory devices.

Bias voltage induced resistance switching effect in single-molecule magnets' tunneling junction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhengzhong; Jiang, Liang

2014-09-12

An electric-pulse-induced reversible resistance change effect in a molecular magnetic tunneling junction, consisting of a single-molecule magnet (SMM) sandwiched in one nonmagnetic and one ferromagnetic electrode, is theoretically investigated. By applying a time-varying bias voltage, the SMM's spin orientation can be manipulated with large bias voltage pulses. Moreover, the different magnetic configuration at high-resistance/low-resistance states can be 'read out' by utilizing relative low bias voltage. This device scheme can be implemented with current technologies (Khajetoorians et al 2013 Science 339 55) and has potential application in molecular spintronics and high-density nonvolatile memory devices.

Spectroscopy of bulk and few-layer superconducting NbSe2 with van der Waals tunnel junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dvir, T; Massee, F; Attias, L; Khodas, M; Aprili, M; Quay, C H L; Steinberg, H

2018-02-09

Tunnel junctions, an established platform for high resolution spectroscopy of superconductors, require defect-free insulating barriers; however, oxides, the most common barrier, can only grow on a limited selection of materials. We show that van der Waals tunnel barriers, fabricated by exfoliation and transfer of layered semiconductors, sustain stable currents with strong suppression of sub-gap tunneling. This allows us to measure the spectra of bulk (20 nm) and ultrathin (3- and 4-layer) NbSe 2 devices at 70 mK. These exhibit two distinct superconducting gaps, the larger of which decreases monotonically with thickness and critical temperature. The spectra are analyzed using a two-band model incorporating depairing. In the bulk, the smaller gap exhibits strong depairing in in-plane magnetic fields, consistent with high out-of-plane Fermi velocity. In the few-layer devices, the large gap exhibits negligible depairing, consistent with out-of-plane spin locking due to Ising spin-orbit coupling. In the 3-layer device, the large gap persists beyond the Pauli limit.

Analysis of different tunneling mechanisms of InxGa1−xAs/AlGaAs tunnel junction light-emitting transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Cheng-Han; Wu, Chao-Hsin

2014-01-01

The electrical and optical characteristics of tunnel junction light-emitting transistors (TJLETs) with different indium mole fractions (x = 5% and 2.5%) of the In x Ga 1−x As base-collector tunnel junctions have been investigated. Two electron tunneling mechanisms (photon-assisted or direct tunneling) provide additional currents to electrical output and resupply holes back to the base region, resulting in the upward slope of I-V curves and enhanced optical output under forward-active operation. The larger direct tunneling probability and stronger Franz-Keldysh absorption for 5% TJLET lead to higher collector current slope and less optical intensity enhancement when base-collector junction is under reverse-biased.

Magnetic tunnel junction device having an intermediate layer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2001-01-01

A magnetic tunnel junction device has a multi-layer structure including a pair of electrode layers of a ferromagnetic material and a tunnel barrier layer of an insulating material between the electrode layers. In order to realize a low resistance, the multi-layer structure also includes an

Spin interference of neutrons tunneling through magnetic thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hino, Masahiro; Achiwa, Norio; Tasaki, Seiji; Ebisawa, Toru; Akiyoshi, Tsunekazu; Kawai, Takeshi.

1996-01-01

Larmor precession of a neutron spin is represented as the superposition of the wave functions of the two Stern-Gerlach states ↑ and ↓. A transverse neutron spin echo (NSE) spectrometer can hence be used as a neutron spin interferometer (NSI) by setting a magnetic film, such as iron and permalloy45 (Fe 55 Ni 45 ), thin enough to permit tunneling at an incident angle above and below the critical angle of the total reflection in the Larmor precession field. The NSI can be used to study spin coherent superposition and rotation of the Larmor precession through a magnetic thin film for a tunneling ↑ spin neutron and a non-tunneling ↓ spin neutron and to get the tunneling time using Larmor clock. The NSI experiments were carried out to measure the shifts of NSE signals transmitted through magnetic iron films with thicknesses of 200 and 400 A and those magnetic permalloy45 films with thicknesses of 200 and 400 A, respectively, as a function of the incident angle. Then even in tunneling ↑ spin neutron and non-tunneling ↓ spin neutron, NSE signal was observed. The phase delay was measured in iron and permalloy45 films with thickness of 200 A, and the tunneling time using Larmor clock was estimated to be 4 ± 0.6 x 10 -9 sec. (author)

Optical photon detection in Al superconducting tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brammertz, G.; Peacock, A.; Verhoeve, P.; Martin, D.; Venn, R.

2004-01-01

We report on the successful fabrication of low leakage aluminium superconducting tunnel junctions with very homogeneous and transparent insulating barriers. The junctions were tested in an adiabatic demagnetisation refrigerator with a base temperature of 35 mK. The normal resistance of the junctions is equal to ∼7 μΩ cm 2 with leakage currents in the bias voltage domain as low as 100 fA/μm 2 . Optical single photon counting experiments show a very high responsivity with charge amplification factors in excess of 100. The total resolving power λ/Δλ (including electronic noise) for 500 nm photons is equal to 13 compared to a theoretical tunnel limited value of 34. The current devices are found to be limited spectroscopically by spatial inhomogeneities in the detectors response

Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in Co/AIOx/Al tunnel junctions with fcc Co (111) electrodes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Kai; Tran, T. Lan Ahn; Brinks, Peter; Brinks, P.; Sanderink, Johannes G.M.; Bolhuis, Thijs; van der Wiel, Wilfred Gerard; de Jong, Machiel Pieter

2013-01-01

Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR) has been characterized in junctions comprised of face-centered cubic (fcc) Co (111) ferromagnetic electrodes grown epitaxially on sapphire substrates, amorphous AlOx tunnel barriers, and nonmagnetic Al counterelectrodes. Large TAMR ratios have been

Theory of high-resolution tunneling spin transport on a magnetic skyrmion

Science.gov (United States)

Palotás, Krisztián; Rózsa, Levente; Szunyogh, László

2018-05-01

Tunneling spin transport characteristics of a magnetic skyrmion are described theoretically in magnetic scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The spin-polarized charge current in STM (SP-STM) and tunneling spin transport vector quantities, the longitudinal spin current and the spin transfer torque, are calculated in high spatial resolution within the same theoretical framework. A connection between the conventional charge current SP-STM image contrasts and the magnitudes of the spin transport vectors is demonstrated that enables the estimation of tunneling spin transport properties based on experimentally measured SP-STM images. A considerable tunability of the spin transport vectors by the involved spin polarizations is also highlighted. These possibilities and the combined theory of tunneling charge and vector spin transport pave the way for gaining deep insight into electric-current-induced tunneling spin transport properties in SP-STM and to the related dynamics of complex magnetic textures at surfaces.

Tunneling conductance in superconductor-hybrid double quantum dots Josephson junction

Science.gov (United States)

Chamoli, Tanuj; Ajay

2018-05-01

The present work deals with the theoretical model study to analyse the tunneling conductance across a superconductor hybrid double quantum dots tunnel junction (S-DQD-S). Recently, there are many experimental works where the Josephson current across such nanoscopic junction is found to be dependent on nature of the superconducting electrodes, coupling of the hybrid double quantum dot's electronic states with the electronic states of the superconductors and nature of electronic structure of the coupled dots. For this, we have attempted a theoretical model containing contributions of BCS superconducting leads, magnetic coupled quantum dot states and coupling of superconducting leads with QDs. In order to include magnetic coupled QDs the contributions of competitive Kondo and Ruderman-Kittel- Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction terms are also introduced through many body effects in the model Hamiltonian at low temperatures (where Kondo temperature TK tunnel junctions. Tunneling conductance is proportional to DOS, hence we can analyse it's behaviour with the help of DOS.

Interfacial density of states in magnetic tunnel junctions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

LeClair, P.R.; Kohlhepp, J.T.; Swagten, H.J.M.; Jonge, de W.J.M.

2001-01-01

Large zero-bias resistance anomalies as well as a collapse of magnetoresistance were observed in Co/Al2O3/Co magnetic tunnel junctions with thin Cr interfacial layers. The tunnel magnetoresistance decays exponentially with nominal Cr interlayer thickness with a length scale of ~1 Å more than twice

Homoepitaxial graphene tunnel barriers for spin transport (Presentation Recording)

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Adam L.

2015-09-01

Tunnel barriers are key elements for both charge-and spin-based electronics, offering devices with reduced power consumption and new paradigms for information processing. Such devices require mating dissimilar materials, raising issues of heteroepitaxy, interface stability, and electronic states that severely complicate fabrication and compromise performance. Graphene is the perfect tunnel barrier. It is an insulator out-of-plane, possesses a defect-free, linear habit, and is impervious to interdiffusion. Nonetheless, true tunneling between two stacked graphene layers is not possible in environmental conditions (magnetic field, temperature, etc.) usable for electronics applications. However, two stacked graphene layers can be decoupled using chemical functionalization. Here, we demonstrate homoepitaxial tunnel barrier devices in which graphene serves as both the tunnel barrier and the high mobility transport channel. Beginning with multilayer graphene, we fluorinate or hydrogenate the top layer to decouple it from the bottom layer, so that it serves as a single monolayer tunnel barrier for both charge and spin injection into the lower graphene transport channel. We demonstrate successful tunneling by measuring non-linear IV curves, and a weakly temperature dependent zero bias resistance. We perform lateral transport of spin currents in non-local spin-valve structures and determine spin lifetimes with the non-local Hanle effect to be commensurate with previous studies (~200 ps). However, we also demonstrate the highest spin polarization efficiencies (~45%) yet measured in graphene-based spin devices [1]. [1] A.L. Friedman, et al., Homoepitaxial tunnel barriers with functionalized graphene-on-graphene for charge and spin transport, Nat. Comm. 5, 3161 (2014).

Coherent Cooper pair tunneling in systems of Josephson junctions: effects of quasiparticle tunneling and of the electromagnetic environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maassen van den Brink, A.; Odintsov, A.A.; Bobbert, P.A.; Schön, G.

1991-01-01

Small capacitance tunnel junctions show single electron effects and, in the superconducting state, the coherent tunneling of Cooper pairs. We study these effects in a system of two Josephson junctions, driven by a voltage source with a finite impedance. Novel features show up in theI–V

Josephson tunnel junctions in niobium films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiik, Tapio.

1976-12-01

A method of fabricating stable Josephson tunnel junctions with reproducible characteristics is described. The junctions have a sandwich structure consisting of a vacuum evaporated niobium film, a niobium oxide layer produced by the glow discharge method and a lead film deposited by vacuum evaporation. Difficulties in producing thin-film Josephson junctions are discussed. Experimental results suggest that the lower critical field of the niobium film is the most essential parameter when evaluating the quality of these junctions. The dependence of the lower critical field on the film thickness and on the Ginzburg-Landau parameter of the film is studied analytically. Comparison with the properties of the evaporated films and with the previous calculations for bulk specimens shows that the presented model is applicable for most of the prepared samples. (author)

Effect of resistance feedback on spin torque-induced switching of nanomagnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garzon, Samir; Webb, Richard A.; Covington, Mark; Kaka, Shehzaad; Crawford, Thomas M.

2009-01-01

In large magnetoresistance devices spin torque-induced changes in resistance can produce GHz current and voltage oscillations which can affect magnetization reversal. In addition, capacitive shunting in large resistance devices can further reduce the current, adversely affecting spin torque switching. Here, we simultaneously solve the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation with spin torque and the transmission line telegrapher's equations to study the effects of resistance feedback and capacitance on magnetization reversal of both spin valves and magnetic tunnel junctions. While for spin valves parallel (P) to anti-parallel (AP) switching is adversely affected by the resistance feedback due to saturation of the spin torque, in low resistance magnetic tunnel junctions P-AP switching is enhanced. We study the effect of resistance feedback on the switching time of magnetic tunnel junctions, and show that magnetization switching is only affected by capacitive shunting in the pF range.

Quantum-limited detection of millimeter waves using superconducting tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mears, C.A.

1991-09-01

The quasiparticle tunneling current in a superconductor-insulator- superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction is highly nonlinear. Such a nonlinearity can be used to mix two millimeter wave signals to produce a signal at a much lower intermediate frequency. We have constructed several millimeter and sub-millimeter wave SIS mixers in order to study high frequency response of the quasiparticle tunneling current and the physics of high frequency mixing. We have made the first measurement of the out-of-phase tunneling currents in an SIS tunnel junction. We have developed a method that allows us to determine the parameters of the high frequency embedding circuit by studying the details of the pumped I-V curve. We have constructed a 80--110 GHz waveguide-based mixer test apparatus that allows us to accurately measure the gain and added noise of the SIS mixer under test. Using extremely high quality tunnel junctions, we have measured an added mixer noise of 0.61 ± 0.36 quanta, which is within 25 percent of the quantum limit imposed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This measured performance is in excellent agreement with that predicted by Tucker's theory of quantum mixing. We have also studied quasioptically coupled millimeter- and submillimeter-wave mixers using several types of integrated tuning elements. 83 refs

Spin transfer torque with spin diffusion in magnetic tunnel junctions

KAUST Repository

Manchon, Aurelien; Matsumoto, R.; Jaffres, H.; Grollier, J.

2012-01-01

in the metallic layers. We show that spin diffusion mixes the transverse spin current components and dramatically modifies the bias dependence of the effective spin transfer torque. This leads to a significant linear bias dependence of the out-of-plane torque

Spin heat accumulation induced by tunneling from a ferromagnet.

Science.gov (United States)

Vera-Marun, I J; van Wees, B J; Jansen, R

2014-02-07

An electric current from a ferromagnet into a nonmagnetic material can induce a spin-dependent electron temperature. Here, it is shown that this spin heat accumulation, when created by tunneling from a ferromagnet, produces a non-negligible voltage signal that is comparable to that due to the coexisting electrical spin accumulation and can give a different Hanle spin precession signature. The effect is governed by the spin polarization of the Peltier coefficient of the tunnel contact, its Seebeck coefficient, and the spin heat resistance of the nonmagnetic material, which is related to the electrical spin resistance by a spin-Wiedemann-Franz law. Moreover, spin heat injection is subject to a heat conductivity mismatch that is overcome if the tunnel interface has a sufficiently large resistance.

Quantum spin circulator in Y junctions of Heisenberg chains

Science.gov (United States)

Buccheri, Francesco; Egger, Reinhold; Pereira, Rodrigo G.; Ramos, Flávia B.

2018-06-01

We show that a quantum spin circulator, a nonreciprocal device that routes spin currents without any charge transport, can be achieved in Y junctions of identical spin-1 /2 Heisenberg chains coupled by a chiral three-spin interaction. Using bosonization, boundary conformal field theory, and density matrix renormalization group simulations, we find that a chiral fixed point with maximally asymmetric spin conductance arises at a critical point separating a regime of disconnected chains from a spin-only version of the three-channel Kondo effect. We argue that networks of spin-chain Y junctions provide a controllable approach to construct long-sought chiral spin-liquid phases.

Magnetic tunnel junctions with AlN and AlNxOy barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwickert, M. M.; Childress, J. R.; Fontana, R. E.; Kellock, A. J.; Rice, P. M.; Ho, M. K.; Thompson, T. J.; Gurney, B. A.

2001-01-01

Nonoxide tunnel barriers such as AlN are of interest for magnetic tunnel junctions to avoid the oxidation of the magnetic electrodes. We have investigated the fabrication and properties of thin AlN-based barriers for use in low resistance magnetic tunnel junctions. Electronic, magnetic and structural data of tunnel valves of the form Ta (100 Aa)/PtMn (300 Aa)/CoFe 20 (20 Aa - 25 Aa)/barrier/CoFe 20 (10 - 20 Aa)/NiFe 16 (35 - 40 Aa)/Ta (100 Aa) are presented, where the barrier consists of AlN, AlN x O y or AlN/AlO x with total thicknesses between 8 and 15 Aa. The tunnel junctions were sputter deposited and then lithographically patterned down to 2 x 2μm 2 devices. AlN was deposited by reactive sputtering from an Al target with 20% - 35% N 2 in the Ar sputter gas at room temperature, resulting in stoichiometric growth of AlN x (x=0.50±0.05), as determined by RBS. TEM analysis shows that the as-deposited AlN barrier is crystalline. For AlN barriers and AlN followed by natural O 2 oxidation, we obtain tunnel magnetoresistance >10% with specific junction resistance R j down to 60Ωμm 2 . [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

Thermopower in double planar tunnel junctions with ferromagnetic barriers and nonmagnetic electrodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilczyński, M., E-mail: wilczyns@if.pw.edu.pl

2017-01-01

The Seebeck effect is investigated in double planar tunnel junctions consisting of nonmagnetic electrodes and the central layer separated by ferromagnetic barriers. Calculations are performed in the linear response theory using the free-electron model. The thermopower is analyzed as a function of the thickness of the central layer, temperature of the junctions and the relative orientation of magnetic moments of the barriers. It has been found that the thermopower can be significantly enhanced in the junction with special central layer thickness due to electron tunneling by resonant states. The thickness of the central layer for which the thermopower is enhanced depends not only on the temperature of the junction but also on the orientation of magnetic moments in the barriers. - Highlights: • Thermopower in the double planar junctions with magnetic barriers is analyzed. • Thermopower can be enhanced due to the resonant tunneling. • Thermopower depends on the magnetic configuration of the junction.

Spin Transport in Mesoscopic Superconducting-Ferromagnetic Hybrid Conductor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zein W. A.

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The spin polarization and the corresponding tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR for a hybrid ferromagnetic / superconductor junction are calculated. The results show that these parameters are strongly depends on the exchange field energy and the bias voltage. The dependence of the polarization on the angle of precession is due to the spin flip through tunneling process. Our results could be interpreted as due to spin imbalance of carriers resulting in suppression of gap energy of the superconductor. The present investigation is valuable for manufacturing magnetic recording devices and nonvolatile memories which imply a very high spin coherent transport for such junction.

Spin Transport in Mesoscopic Superconducting-Ferromagnetic Hybrid Conductor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zein W. A.

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The spin polarization and the corresponding tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR for a hybrid ferromagnetic/superconductor junction are calculated. The results show that these parameters are strongly depends on the exchange field energy and the bias voltage. The dependence of the polarization on the angle of precession is due to the spin flip through tunneling process. Our results could be interpreted as due to spin imbalance of carriers resulting in suppression of gap energy of the superconductor. The present investigation is valuable for manufacturing magnetic recording devices and nonvolatile memories which imply a very high spin coherent transport for such junction.

Simulations of Resonant Intraband and Interband Tunneling Spin Filters

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, David; Cartoixa-Soler, Xavier; McGill, T. C.; Smith, Darryl L.; Schulman, Joel N.

2001-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews resonant intraband and interband tunneling spin filters It explores the possibility of building a zero-magnetic-field spin polarizer using nonmagnetic III-V semiconductor heterostructures. It reviews the extensive simulations of quantum transport in asymmetric InAs/GaSb/AlSb resonant tunneling structures with Rashba spin splitting and proposes a. new device concept: side-gated asymmetric Resonant Interband Tunneling Diode (a-RITD).

Dependency of Tunneling-Magnetoresistance Ratio on Nanoscale Spacer Thickness and Material for Double MgO Based Perpendicular-Magnetic-Tunneling-Junction

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Du-Yeong; Hong, Song-Hwa; Lee, Seung-Eun; Park, Jea-Gun

2016-12-01

It was found that in double MgO based perpendicular magnetic tunneling junction spin-valves ex-situ annealed at 400 °C, the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio was extremely sensitive to the material and thickness of the nanoscale spacer: it peaked at a specific thickness (0.40~0.53 nm), and the TMR ratio for W spacers (~134%) was higher than that for Ta spacers (~98%). This dependency on the spacer material and thickness was associated with the (100) body-centered-cubic crystallinity of the MgO layers: the strain enhanced diffusion length in the MgO layers of W atoms (~1.40 nm) was much shorter than that of Ta atoms (~2.85 nm) and the shorter diffusion length led to the MgO layers having better (100) body-centered-cubic crystallinity.

Properties on niobium-based Josephson tunneling elements in junction microstructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albrecht, G.; Richter, J.; Weber, P.

1982-01-01

We describe the fabrication and electrical characteristics of niobium oxide-barrier tunnel junctions with counterelectrodes of lead/lead alloy. Primary attention is directed to the experimental conditions necessary to obtain high-quality tunnel barriers as well as studies on characterizing the atomic structure of the barrier region. In order to study the tunnel barrier homogeneity in the tunneling region the magnetic field dependence of the critical Josephson current is investigated. The I--V characteristics and dependence of the critical Josephson current on temperature are analyzed quantitatively by using a proximity effect model. Finally, we discuss experimental results on the improvement of junction quality by including traces of carbon in the rf argon plasma during the sputter cleaning of niobium base electrodes

Giant electrode effect on tunnelling electroresistance in ferroelectric tunnel junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Soni, Rohit; Petraru, Adrian; Meuffels, Paul; Vavra, Ondrej; Ziegler, Martin; Kim, Seong Keun; Jeong, Doo Seok; Pertsev, Nikolay A; Kohlstedt, Hermann

2014-11-17

Among recently discovered ferroelectricity-related phenomena, the tunnelling electroresistance (TER) effect in ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) has been attracting rapidly increasing attention owing to the emerging possibilities of non-volatile memory, logic and neuromorphic computing applications of these quantum nanostructures. Despite recent advances in experimental and theoretical studies of FTJs, many questions concerning their electrical behaviour still remain open. In particular, the role of ferroelectric/electrode interfaces and the separation of the ferroelectric-driven TER effect from electrochemical ('redox'-based) resistance-switching effects have to be clarified. Here we report the results of a comprehensive study of epitaxial junctions comprising BaTiO(3) barrier, La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO(3) bottom electrode and Au or Cu top electrodes. Our results demonstrate a giant electrode effect on the TER of these asymmetric FTJs. The revealed phenomena are attributed to the microscopic interfacial effect of ferroelectric origin, which is supported by the observation of redox-based resistance switching at much higher voltages.

Humidity dependence of molecular tunnel junctions with an AlOx/COOH- interface

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaohang; McGill, Stephen; Xiong, Peng

2006-03-01

We have studied the electron transport in planar tunneling junctions with aluminum oxide and an organic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) as the tunnel barrier. The structure of the junctions is Al/AlOx/SAM/(Au, Pb) with a junction area of ˜ 0.4mm^2. The organic molecules investigated include mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHA), hexadecanoic acid (HDA), and octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS); all of which form ordered SAMs on top of aluminum oxide. The use of a superconducting electrode (Al) enables us to determine unambiguously that these are high-quality tunnel junctions. For junctions incorporating MHA, the transport behavior is found to be strongly humidity dependent. The resistance of these junctions drops more than 50% when placed in dry nitrogen and recovers when returned into the ambient. The same drop also occurs when the sample is placed into a vacuum, and backfilling the vacuum with either dry N2 or O2 has negligible effect on the resistance. For comparison, junctions with HDA show the same humidity dependence, while OTS samples do not. Since both MHA and HDA have carboxylic groups and OTS does not, the results suggest that water molecules at the AlOx/COOH- interface play the central role in the observed behavior. Inelastic tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) has also been performed to understand the role of water. This work was supported by a FSU Research Foundation PEG grant.

Study of the geometrical resonances of superconducting tunnel junctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, O. Hoffmann; Finnegan, T.F.; Pedersen, Niels Falsig

1973-01-01

The resonant cavity structure of superconducting Sn-Sn-oxide-Sn tunnel junctions has been investigated via photon-assisted quasiparticle tunneling. We find that the temperature-dependent losses at 35 GHz are determined by the surface resistance of the Sn films for reduced temperatures between 0...

Flexible MgO Barrier Magnetic Tunnel Junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Loong, Li Ming; Lee, Wonho; Qiu, Xuepeng; Yang, Ping; Kawai, Hiroyo; Saeys, Mark; Ahn, Jong-Hyun; Yang, Hyunsoo

2016-07-01

Flexible MgO barrier magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices are fabricated using a transfer printing process. The flexible MTJ devices yield significantly enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance of ≈300% and improved abruptness of switching, as residual strain in the MTJ structure is released during the transfer process. This approach could be useful for flexible electronic systems that require high-performance memory components. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Spin-dependent tunneling transport in a lateral magnetic diode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yu; Shi, Ying

2012-01-01

Based on the gate-tunable two-dimensional electron gas, we have constructed laterally a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure by employing a peculiar triple-gate configuration, namely a ferromagnetic gate sandwiched closely by a pair of Schottky gates. Because of the in-plane stray field of ferromagnetic gate, the resulting bound spin state in well gives rise to the remarkable resonant spin polarization following the spin-dependent resonant tunneling regime. Importantly, by aligning the bound spin state through surface gate-voltage configuration, this resonant spin polarization can be externally manipulated, showing the desirable features for the spin-logic device applications. -- Highlights: ► A lateral spin-RTD was proposed by applying triple-gate modulated 2DEG. ► Spin-dependent resonant tunneling transport and large resonant spin polarization has been clarified from the systematic simulation. ► Both electric and/or magnetic strategies can be employed to modulate the system spin transport, providing the essential features for the spin-logic application.

Theory of high-resolution tunneling spin transport on a magnetic skyrmion

OpenAIRE

Palotás, Krisztián; Rózsa, Levente; Szunyogh, László

2018-01-01

Tunneling spin transport characteristics of a magnetic skyrmion are described theoretically in magnetic scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The spin-polarized charge current in STM (SP-STM) and tunneling spin transport vector quantities, the longitudinal spin current and the spin transfer torque are calculated in high spatial resolution within the same theoretical framework. A connection between the conventional charge current SP-STM image contrasts and the magnitudes of the spin transport v...

Transport properties of La{sub 2/3}Sr{sub 1/3}MnO{sub 3}/LaAlO{sub 3}/Pt tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galceran, R.; Balcells, Ll.; Pomar, A.; Konstantinović, Z.; Sandiumenge, F.; Martínez, B. [Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Barcelona - CSIC, Campus UAB, Bellaterra 08193 (Spain)

2015-03-14

Magnetotransport properties of La{sub 2/3}Sr{sub 1/3}MnO{sub 3}/LaAlO{sub 3}/Pt tunnel junctions have been thoroughly analyzed, as a function of temperature and magnetic field, to test the suitability of LaAlO{sub 3} for insulating barriers and spin injection processes. The insulating behavior of LaAlO{sub 3} maintained down to 1–2 nm (corresponding to 4–5 unit cells) renders this material useful as tunnel barrier. The temperature dependence of the junction resistance, R(T), down to 200 K confirms direct tunneling as the dominant conduction channel. The barrier parameters of the junctions, φ{sub 0} and s, are estimated using Simmons' model in the intermediate voltage range. The energy of the barrier was estimated to be φ{sub 0} ∼ 0.4 eV at room temperature. The dependence of R(T) and φ{sub 0} on the magnetic field shows an anisotropic tunneling magnetoresistance of ∼4% at low T when changing the direction of the magnetization with respect to the current flow.

Photon-assisted Tunneling In Double-barrier Superconducting Tunnel-junctions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dierichs, M. M. T. M.; Dieleman, P.; Wezelman, J. J.; Honingh, C. E.; Klapwijk, T. M.

1994-01-01

Double-barrier Nb/Al2O3/Al/Al2O3/Nb tunnel junctions are used as mixing elements in a 345 GHz waveguide mixer. Noise temperatures (double side band) down to 720 K at 3.0 K are obtained without the need to apply a magnetic field to suppress the Josephson current. It is shown that the composite

High-frequency spin-dependent tunnelling in magnetic nanocomposites: Magnetorefractive effect and magnetoimpedance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Granovsky, Alexander [Faculty of Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119992 (Russian Federation)]. E-mail: granov@magn.ru; Kozlov, Andrey [Faculty of Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119992 (Russian Federation); Nedukh, Sergey [Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics NAS of Ukraine, Kharkov 61085 (Ukraine); Tarapov, Sergey [Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics NAS of Ukraine, Kharkov 61085 (Ukraine)

2005-07-15

Since the dielectric permittivity is linear with frequency-dependent conductivity, high-frequency properties for any kind of magnetic materials with the high magnetoresistance depend on magnetization. It manifests as magnetorefractive effect (MRE) in the infrared region of spectrum and as magnetoimpedance (MI) in the frequency range between radio and microwaves. The main mechanism of both MRE and MI in nanocomposites with tunnel-type magnetoresistance is high-frequency spin-dependent tunnelling. We report on recent results of theoretical and experimental investigations of MRE and MI in nanocomposites Co{sub 51.5}Al{sub 19.5}O{sub 29}, Co{sub 50.2}Ti{sub 9.1}O{sub 40.7}, Co{sub 52.3}Si{sub 12.2}O{sub 35.5} and (Co{sub 0,4}Fe{sub 0,6}){sub 48}(MgF){sub 52}. Most of the obtained experimental data for MRE and MI are consistent with the theory based on considering the tunnel junction between adjacent granules in percolation cluster as a capacitor.

A15 Nb-Sn tunnel junction fabrication and properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudman, D.A.; Hellman, F.; Hammond, R.H.; Beasley, M.R.

1984-01-01

We have investigated the deposition conditions necessary to produce optimized films of A15 Nb-Sn (19--26 at. % Sn) by electron-beam codeposition. Reliable high-quality superconducting tunnel junctions can be made on this material by using an oxidized-amorphous silicon overlayer as the tunneling barrier and lead as the counter-electrode. These junctions have been used both as a tool for materials diagnosis and as a probe of the superconducting properties (critical temperature and gap) of the films. Careful control of the substrate temperature during the growth of the films has proved critical to obtain homogeneous samples. When the substrate temperature is properly stabilized, stoichiometric Nb 3 Sn is found to be relatively insensitive to the deposition temperature and conditions. In contrast, the properties of the off-stoichiometry (Sn-poor) material depend strongly on the deposition temperature. For this Sn-poor material the ratio 2Δ/kT/sub c/ at a given composition increases with increasing deposition temperature. This change appears to be due to an increase in the gap at the surface of the material (as measured by tunneling) relative to the critical temperature of the bulk. All the tunnel junctions exhibit some persistent nonidealities in their current-voltage characteristics that are qualitatively insensitive to composition or deposition conditions. In particular, the junctions show excess conduction below the sum of the energy gaps (with onset at the counter-electrode gap) and a broadened current rise at the sum gap. The detailed origins of these problems are not yet understood

Multiferroic tunnel junctions and ferroelectric control of magnetic state at interface (invited)

KAUST Repository

Yin, Y. W.

2015-03-03

As semiconductor devices reach ever smaller dimensions, the challenge of power dissipation and quantum effect place a serious limit on the future device scaling. Recently, a multiferroic tunnel junction (MFTJ) with a ferroelectric barrier sandwiched between two ferromagnetic electrodes has drawn enormous interest due to its potential applications not only in multi-level data storage but also in electric field controlled spintronics and nanoferronics. Here, we present our investigations on four-level resistance states, giant tunneling electroresistance (TER) due to interfacial magnetoelectric coupling, and ferroelectric control of spin polarized tunneling in MFTJs. Coexistence of large tunneling magnetoresistance and TER has been observed in manganite/(Ba, Sr)TiO3/manganite MFTJs at low temperatures and room temperature four-resistance state devices were also obtained. To enhance the TER for potential logic operation with a magnetic memory, La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/BaTiO3/La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 /La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 MFTJs were designed by utilizing a bilayer tunneling barrier in which BaTiO3 is ferroelectric and La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 is close to ferromagnetic metal to antiferromagnetic insulator phase transition. The phase transition occurs when the ferroelectric polarization is reversed, resulting in an increase of TER by two orders of magnitude. Tunneling magnetoresistance can also be controlled by the ferroelectric polarization reversal, indicating strong magnetoelectric coupling at the interface.

Fluctuations of the peak current of tunnel diodes in multi-junction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jandieri, K; Baranovskii, S D; Stolz, W; Gebhard, F; Guter, W; Hermle, M; Bett, A W

2009-01-01

Interband tunnel diodes are widely used to electrically interconnect the individual subcells in multi-junction solar cells. Tunnel diodes have to operate at high current densities and low voltages, especially when used in concentrator solar cells. They represent one of the most critical elements of multi-junction solar cells and the fluctuations of the peak current in the diodes have an essential impact on the performance and reliability of the devices. Recently we have found that GaAs tunnel diodes exhibit extremely high peak currents that can be explained by resonant tunnelling through defects homogeneously distributed in the junction. Experiments evidence rather large fluctuations of the peak current in the diodes fabricated from the same wafer. It is a challenging task to clarify the reason for such large fluctuations in order to improve the performance of the multi-junction solar cells. In this work we show that the large fluctuations of the peak current in tunnel diodes can be caused by relatively small fluctuations of the dopant concentration. We also show that the fluctuations of the peak current become smaller for deeper energy levels of the defects responsible for the resonant tunnelling.

Linear nanometric tunnel junction sensors with exchange pinned sensing layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leitao, D. C.; Silva, A. V.; Cardoso, S.; Ferreira, R.; Paz, E.; Deepack, F. L.; Freitas, P. P.

2014-01-01

Highly sensitive nanosensors with high spatial resolution provide the necessary features for high accuracy imaging of isolated magnetic nanoparticles. In this work, we report the fabrication and characterization of MgO-barrier magnetic tunnel junction nanosensors, with two exchange-pinned electrodes. The perpendicular magnetization configuration for field sensing is set using a two-step annealing process, where the second annealing temperature was optimized to yield patterned sensors responses with improved linearity. The optimized circular nanosensors show sensitivities up to 0.1%/Oe, larger than previously reported for nanometric sensors and comparable to micrometric spin-valves. Our strategy avoids the use of external permanent biasing or demagnetizing fields (large for smaller structures) to achieve a linear response, enabling the control of the linear operation range using only the stack and thus providing a small footprint device

Linear nanometric tunnel junction sensors with exchange pinned sensing layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leitao, D. C., E-mail: dleitao@inesc-mn.pt; Silva, A. V.; Cardoso, S. [INESC-MN and IN, Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000-029 Lisboa (Portugal); Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1000-029 Lisboa (Portugal); Ferreira, R.; Paz, E.; Deepack, F. L. [INL, Av. Mestre Jose Veiga, 4715-31 Braga (Portugal); Freitas, P. P. [INESC-MN and IN, Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000-029 Lisboa (Portugal); INL, Av. Mestre Jose Veiga, 4715-31 Braga (Portugal)

2014-05-07

Highly sensitive nanosensors with high spatial resolution provide the necessary features for high accuracy imaging of isolated magnetic nanoparticles. In this work, we report the fabrication and characterization of MgO-barrier magnetic tunnel junction nanosensors, with two exchange-pinned electrodes. The perpendicular magnetization configuration for field sensing is set using a two-step annealing process, where the second annealing temperature was optimized to yield patterned sensors responses with improved linearity. The optimized circular nanosensors show sensitivities up to 0.1%/Oe, larger than previously reported for nanometric sensors and comparable to micrometric spin-valves. Our strategy avoids the use of external permanent biasing or demagnetizing fields (large for smaller structures) to achieve a linear response, enabling the control of the linear operation range using only the stack and thus providing a small footprint device.

Proximity effect and hot-electron diffusion in Ag/Al2O3/Al tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Netel, H.; Jochum, J.; Labov, S.E.; Mears, C.A.; Frank, M.; Chow, D.; Lindeman, M.A.; Hiller, L.J.

1997-01-01

We have fabricated Ag/Al 2 O 3 /Al tunnel junctions on Si substrates using a new process. This process was developed to fabricate superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) on the surface of a superconductor. These junctions allow us to study the proximity effect of a superconducting Al film on a normal metal trapping layer. In addition, these devices allow us to measure the hot-electron diffusion constant using a single junction. Lastly these devices will help us optimize the design and fabrication of tunnel junctions on the surface of high-Z, ultra-pure superconducting crystals. 5 refs., 8 figs

Spin tunnelling in mesoscopic systems

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We study spin tunnelling in molecular magnets as an instance of a mesoscopic phenomenon, with special emphasis on the molecule Fe8. We show that the tunnel splitting between various pairs of Zeeman levels in this molecule oscillates as a function of applied magnetic field, vanishing completely at special points in the ...

Gate-voltage control of equal-spin Andreev reflection in half-metal/semiconductor/superconductor junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Xiuqiang, E-mail: xianqiangzhe@126.com [National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Meng, Hao, E-mail: menghao1982@shu.edu.cn [School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, Shanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong 723001 (China)

2016-04-22

With the Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk (BTK) approach, we investigate conductance spectrum in Ferromagnet/Semiconductor/Superconductor (FM/Sm/SC) double tunnel junctions where strong Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI) is taken into account in semiconductors. For the half-metal limit, we find that the in-gap conductance becomes finite except at zero voltage when inserting a ferromagnetic insulator (FI) at the Sm/SC interface, which means that the appearance of a long-range triplet states in the half-metal. This is because of the emergence of the unconventional equal-spin Andreev reflection (ESAR). When the FI locates at the FM/Sm interface, however, we find the vanishing in-gap conductance due to the absence of the ESAR. Moreover, the non-zero in-gap conductance shows a nonmonotonic dependence on RSOI which can be controlled by applying an external gate voltage. Our results can be used to generate and manipulate the long-range spin triplet correlation in the nascent field of superconducting spintronics. - Highlights: • We study the equal-spin Andreev reflection in half-metal/semiconductor/superconductor (HM/Sm/SC) junctions. • The equal-spin Andreev reflection appearance when inserting a ferromagnetic insulator at the Sm/SC interface. • The finite in-gap conductance is attributed to the emergence of the equal-spin Andreev reflection. • The finite in-gap conductance shows a nonmonotonic dependence on Rashba spin–orbit interaction. • The finite in-gap conductance can be controlled by applying an external gate voltage.

Investigation of the tunnel magnetoresistance in junctions with a strontium stannate barrier

Science.gov (United States)

Althammer, Matthias; Mishra, Rohan; Borisevich, Albina J.; Singh, Amit Vikam; Keshavarz, Sahar; Yurtisigi, Mehmet Kenan; Leclair, Patrick; Gupta, Arunava

We experimentally investigate the structural, magnetic and electrical transport properties of La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 based magnetic tunnel junctions with a SrSnO3 barrier. Our results show that despite the high density of defects in the strontium stannate barrier the observed tunnel magnetoresistance is comparable to tunnel junctions with a better lattice matched SrTiO3 barrier, reaching values of up to 350 % at T = 5 K . Further analysis of the current-voltage characteristics of the junction and the bias voltage dependence of the observed tunnel magnetoresistance show a decrease of the TMR with increasing bias voltage. Our results suggest that by reducing the structural defects in the strontium stannate barrier, even larger TMR ratios might be possible in the future. We gratefully acknowledge financial support via NSF-ECCS Grant No. 1509875.

Fabrication of tunnel junction-based molecular electronics and spintronics devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyagi, Pawan

2012-01-01

Tunnel junction-based molecular devices (TJMDs) are highly promising for realizing futuristic electronics and spintronics devices for advanced logic and memory operations. Under this approach, ∼2.5 nm molecular device elements bridge across the ∼2-nm thick insulator of a tunnel junction along the exposed side edge(s). This paper details the efforts and insights for producing a variety of TJMDs by resolving multiple device fabrication and characterization issues. This study specifically discusses (i) compatibility between tunnel junction test bed and molecular solutions, (ii) optimization of the exposed side edge profile and insulator thickness for enhancing the probability of molecular bridging, (iii) effect of fabrication process-induced mechanical stresses, and (iv) minimizing electrical bias-induced instability after the device fabrication. This research will benefit other researchers interested in producing TJMDs efficiently. TJMD approach offers an open platform to test virtually any combination of magnetic and nonmagnetic electrodes, and promising molecules such as single molecular magnets, porphyrin, DNA, and molecular complexes.

Fe concentration dependence of tunneling magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions using group-IV ferromagnetic semiconductor GeFe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kosuke Takiguchi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Group-IV-based ferromagnetic semiconductor Ge1−xFex (GeFe is one of the most promising materials for spin injection/detection in Si and Ge. In this paper, we demonstrate a systematic study of tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs composed of Fe/MgO/Ge1−xFex with various Fe concentrations (x = 0.065, 0.105, 0.140, and 0.175. With increasing x, the TMR ratio increases up to 1.5% when x≤ 0.105, and it decreases when x> 0.105. This is the first observation of the TMR ratio over 1% in MTJs containing a group-IV ferromagnetic semiconductor. With increasing x, while the Curie temperature of GeFe increases, the MgO surface becomes rougher, which is thought to be the cause of the upper limit of the TMR ratio. The quality of the MgO layer on GeFe is an important factor for further improvement of TMR in Fe/MgO/GeFe MTJs.

Creation of stable molecular junctions with a custom-designed scanning tunneling microscope.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Woochul; Reddy, Pramod

2011-12-02

The scanning tunneling microscope break junction (STMBJ) technique is a powerful approach for creating single-molecule junctions and studying electrical transport in them. However, junctions created using the STMBJ technique are usually mechanically stable for relatively short times (scanning tunneling microscope that enables the creation of metal-single molecule-metal junctions that are mechanically stable for more than 1 minute at room temperature. This stability is achieved by a design that minimizes thermal drift as well as the effect of environmental perturbations. The utility of this instrument is demonstrated by performing transition voltage spectroscopy-at the single-molecule level-on Au-hexanedithiol-Au, Au-octanedithiol-Au and Au-decanedithiol-Au junctions.

Spin tunnelling in mesoscopic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Garg, Anupam

2001-02-01

We study spin tunnelling in molecular magnets as an instance of a mesoscopic phenomenon, with special emphasis on the molecule Fe8. We show that the tunnel splitting between various pairs of Zeeman levels in this molecule oscillates as a function of applied magnetic field, vanishing completely at special points in the space of magnetic fields, known as diabolical points. This phenomena is explained in terms of two approaches, one based on spin-coherent-state path integrals, and the other on a generalization of the phase integral (or WKB) method to difference equations. Explicit formulas for the diabolical points are obtained for a model Hamiltonian.

Role of spin polarized tunneling in magnetoresistance and low

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Role of spin polarized tunneling in magnetoresistance and low temperature minimum of polycrystalline La1–KMnO3 ( = 0.05, 0.1, ... Manganites; magnetoresistance; low temperature resistivity; spin polarized tunneling. ... Current Issue

Soliton excitations in Josephson tunnel junctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lomdahl, P. S.; Sørensen, O. H.; Christiansen, Peter Leth

1982-01-01

A detailed numerical study of a sine-Gordon model of the Josephson tunnel junction is compared with experimental measurements on junctions with different L / λJ ratios. The soliton picture is found to apply well on both relatively long (L / λJ=6) and intermediate (L / λJ=2) junctions. We find good...... agreement for the current-voltage characteristics, power output, and for the shape and height of the zero-field steps (ZFS). Two distinct modes of soliton oscillations are observed: (i) a bunched or congealed mode giving rise to the fundamental frequency f1 on all ZFS's and (ii) a "symmetric" mode which...... on the Nth ZFS yields the frequency Nf1 Coexistence of two adjacent frequencies is found on the third ZFS of the longer junction (L / λJ=6) in a narrow range of bias current as also found in the experiments. Small asymmetries in the experimental environment, a weak magnetic field, e.g., is introduced via...

Resistive switching and voltage induced modulation of tunneling magnetoresistance in nanosized perpendicular organic spin valves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Göckeritz

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Nanoscale multifunctional perpendicular organic spin valves have been fabricated. The devices based on an La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/Alq3/Co trilayer show resistive switching of up to 4-5 orders of magnitude and magnetoresistance as high as -70% the latter even changing sign when voltage pulses are applied. This combination of phenomena is typically observed in multiferroic tunnel junctions where it is attributed to magnetoelectric coupling between a ferromagnet and a ferroelectric material. Modeling indicates that here the switching originates from a modification of the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 surface. This modification influences the tunneling of charge carriers and thus both the electrical resistance and the tunneling magnetoresistance which occurs at pinholes in the organic layer.

Dynamics of spin-flip photon-assisted tunneling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Braakman, F.R.; Danon, J.; Schreiber, L.R.; Wegscheider, W.; Vandersypen, L.M.K.

2014-01-01

We present time-resolved measurements of spin-flip photon-assisted tunneling and spin-flip relaxation in a doubly occupied double quantum dot. The photon-assisted excitation rate as a function of magnetic field indicates that spin-orbit coupling is the dominant mechanism behind the spin-flip under

Observation of spin Hall effect in photon tunneling via weak measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xinxing; Ling, Xiaohui; Zhang, Zhiyou; Luo, Hailu; Wen, Shuangchun

2014-12-09

Photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) manifesting itself as spin-dependent splitting escapes detection in previous photon tunneling experiments due to the fact that the induced beam centroid shift is restricted to a fraction of wavelength. In this work, we report on the first observation of this tiny effect in photon tunneling via weak measurements based on preselection and postselection technique on the spin states. We find that the spin-dependent splitting is even larger than the potential barrier thickness when spin-polarized photons tunneling through a potential barrier. This photonic SHE is attributed to spin-redirection Berry phase which can be described as a consequence of the spin-orbit coupling. These findings provide new insight into photon tunneling effect and thereby offer the possibility of developing spin-based nanophotonic applications.

Observation of Spin Hall Effect in Photon Tunneling via Weak Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xinxing; Ling, Xiaohui; Zhang, Zhiyou; Luo, Hailu; Wen, Shuangchun

2014-01-01

Photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) manifesting itself as spin-dependent splitting escapes detection in previous photon tunneling experiments due to the fact that the induced beam centroid shift is restricted to a fraction of wavelength. In this work, we report on the first observation of this tiny effect in photon tunneling via weak measurements based on preselection and postselection technique on the spin states. We find that the spin-dependent splitting is even larger than the potential barrier thickness when spin-polarized photons tunneling through a potential barrier. This photonic SHE is attributed to spin-redirection Berry phase which can be described as a consequence of the spin-orbit coupling. These findings provide new insight into photon tunneling effect and thereby offer the possibility of developing spin-based nanophotonic applications. PMID:25487043

Tunnel splitting in biaxial spin models investigated with spin-coherent-state path integrals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Zhide; Liang, J.-Q.; Pu, F.-C.

2003-01-01

Tunnel splitting in biaxial spin models is investigated with a full evaluation of the fluctuation functional integrals of the Euclidean kernel in the framework of spin-coherent-state path integrals which leads to a magnitude of tunnel splitting quantitatively comparable with the numerical results in terms of diagonalization of the Hamilton operator. An additional factor resulted from a global time transformation converting the position-dependent mass to a constant one seems to be equivalent to the semiclassical correction of the Lagrangian proposed by Enz and Schilling. A long standing question whether the spin-coherent-state representation of path integrals can result in an accurate tunnel splitting is therefore resolved

Fine structures on zero-field steps in low-loss Josephson tunnel junctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Monaco, Roberto; Barbara, Paola; Mygind, Jesper

1993-01-01

The first zero-field step in the current-voltage characteristic of intermediate-length, high-quality, low-loss Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb Josephson tunnel junctions has been carefully investigated as a function of temperature. When decreasing the temperature, a number of structures develop in the form...... of regular and slightly hysteretic steps whose voltage position depends on the junction temperature and length. This phenomenon is interesting for the study of nonlinear dynamics and for application of long Josephson tunnel junctions as microwave and millimeter-wavelength oscillators....

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions with multi-quantum well structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma, Zhijun; Zhang, Tianjin, E-mail: zhangtj@hubu.edu.cn [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062 (China); Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062 (China); Liang, Kun; Qi, Yajun; Wang, Duofa; Wang, Jinzhao; Jiang, Juan [Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062 (China)

2014-06-02

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) with multi-quantum well structures are proposed and the tunneling electroresistance (TER) effect is investigated theoretically. Compared with conventional FTJs with monolayer ferroelectric barriers, FTJs with single-well structures provide TER ratio improvements of one order of magnitude, while FTJs with optimized multi-well structures can enhance this improvement by another order of magnitude. It is believed that the increased resonant tunneling strength combined with appropriate asymmetry in these FTJs contributes to the improvement. These studies may help to fabricate FTJs with large TER ratio experimentally and put them into practice.

Instantons and magnetization tunneling: Beyond the giant-spin approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florez, J.M.; Vargas, P.; Nunez, Alvaro S.

2009-01-01

In this work we show that commonly neglected fluctuations of the net total spin of a molecular nanomagnet strongly modified its tunneling properties and provide a scenario to explain some discrepancies between theory and experiment. Starting off from an effective spin Hamiltonian, we study the quantum tunneling of the magnetization of molecular nanomagnets in the regime where the giant-spin approximation is breaking down. This study is done using an instanton description of the tunneling path. The instanton is calculated considering its coupling to quantum fluctuations.

Dynamic Tunneling Junctions at the Atomic Intersection of Two Twisted Graphene Edges.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellunato, Amedeo; Vrbica, Sasha D; Sabater, Carlos; de Vos, Erik W; Fermin, Remko; Kanneworff, Kirsten N; Galli, Federica; van Ruitenbeek, Jan M; Schneider, Grégory F

2018-04-11

The investigation of the transport properties of single molecules by flowing tunneling currents across extremely narrow gaps is relevant for challenges as diverse as the development of molecular electronics and sequencing of DNA. The achievement of well-defined electrode architectures remains a technical challenge, especially due to the necessity of high precision fabrication processes and the chemical instability of most bulk metals. Here, we illustrate a continuously adjustable tunneling junction between the edges of two twisted graphene sheets. The unique property of the graphene electrodes is that the sheets are rigidly supported all the way to the atomic edge. By analyzing the tunneling current characteristics, we also demonstrate that the spacing across the gap junction can be controllably adjusted. Finally, we demonstrate the transition from the tunneling regime to contact and the formation of an atomic-sized junction between the two edges of graphene.

Creation of stable molecular junctions with a custom-designed scanning tunneling microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Woochul; Reddy, Pramod

2011-01-01

The scanning tunneling microscope break junction (STMBJ) technique is a powerful approach for creating single-molecule junctions and studying electrical transport in them. However, junctions created using the STMBJ technique are usually mechanically stable for relatively short times (<1 s), impeding detailed studies of their charge transport characteristics. Here, we report a custom-designed scanning tunneling microscope that enables the creation of metal–single molecule–metal junctions that are mechanically stable for more than 1 minute at room temperature. This stability is achieved by a design that minimizes thermal drift as well as the effect of environmental perturbations. The utility of this instrument is demonstrated by performing transition voltage spectroscopy—at the single-molecule level—on Au–hexanedithiol–Au, Au–octanedithiol–Au and Au–decanedithiol–Au junctions.

First-principles investigation of quantum transport in GeP3 nanoribbon-based tunneling junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qiang; Li, Jian-Wei; Wang, Bin; Nie, Yi-Hang

2018-06-01

Two-dimensional (2D) GeP3 has recently been theoretically proposed as a new low-dimensional material [ Nano Lett. 17(3), 1833 (2017)]. In this manuscript, we propose a first-principles calculation to investigate the quantum transport properties of several GeP3 nanoribbon-based atomic tunneling junctions. Numerical results indicate that monolayer GeP3 nanoribbons show semiconducting behavior, whereas trilayer GeP3 nanoribbons express metallic behavior owing to the strong interaction between each of the layers. This behavior is in accordance with that proposed in two-dimensional GeP3 layers. The transmission coefficient T( E) of tunneling junctions is sensitive to the connecting formation between the central monolayer GeP3 nanoribbon and the trilayer GeP3 nanoribbon at both ends. The T( E) value of the bottom-connecting tunneling junction is considerably larger than those of the middle-connecting and top-connecting ones. With increases in gate voltage, the conductances increase for the bottom-connecting and middle-connecting tunneling junctions, but decrease for the top-connecting tunneling junctions. In addition, the conductance decreases exponentially with respect to the length of the central monolayer GeP3 nanoribbon for all the tunneling junctions. I-V curves show approximately linear behavior for the bottom-connecting and middle-connecting structures, but exhibit negative differential resistance for the top-connecting structures. The physics of each phenomenon is analyzed in detail.

Destructive quantum interference in spin tunneling problems

OpenAIRE

von Delft, Jan; Henley, Christopher L.

1992-01-01

In some spin tunneling problems, there are several different but symmetry-related tunneling paths that connect the same initial and final configurations. The topological phase factors of the corresponding tunneling amplitudes can lead to destructive interference between the different paths, so that the total tunneling amplitude is zero. In the study of tunneling between different ground state configurations of the Kagom\\'{e}-lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet, this occurs when the spi...

Spin tunnelling dynamics for spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates in a swept magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Guanfang; Fu Libin; Liu Jie

2008-01-01

We investigate the spin tunnelling of spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates in a linearly swept magnetic field with a mean-field treatment. We focus on the two typical alkali Bose atoms 87 Rb and 23 Na condensates and study their tunnelling dynamics according to the sweep rates of the external magnetic fields. In the adiabatic (i.e. slowly sweeping) and sudden (i.e. fast sweeping) limits, no tunnelling is observed. For the case of moderate sweep rates, the tunnelling dynamics is found to be very sensitive to the sweep rates, so the plots of tunnelling probability versus sweep rate only become resolvable at a resolution of 10 -4 G s -1 . Moreover, a conserved quantity standing for the magnetization in experiments is found to affect dramatically the dynamics of the spin tunnelling. Theoretically we have given a complete interpretation of the above findings, and our studies could stimulate the experimental study of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

Multiterminal semiconductor/ferromagnet probes for spin-filter scanning tunneling microscopy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vera Marun, I.J.; Jansen, R.

2009-01-01

We describe the fabrication of multiterminal semiconductor/ferromagnet probes for a new technique to study magnetic nanostructures: spin-filter scanning tunneling microscopy. We describe the principle of the technique, which is based on spin-polarized tunneling and subsequent analysis of the spin

Theory of single-spin inelastic tunneling spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Rossier, J

2009-06-26

I show that recent experiments of inelastic scanning tunneling spectroscopy of single and a few magnetic atoms are modeled with a phenomenological spin-assisted tunneling Hamiltonian so that the inelastic dI/dV line shape is related to the spin spectral weight of the magnetic atom. This accounts for the spin selection rules and dI/dV spectra observed experimentally for single Fe and Mn atoms deposited on Cu2N. In the case of chains of Mn atoms it is found necessary to include both first and second-neighbor exchange interactions as well as single-ion anisotropy.

The critical role of the barrier thickness in spin filter tunneling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, Casey W.

2009-01-01

Spin filter tunneling is considered in the low bias limit as functions of the temperature dependent barrier parameters. We demonstrate the generation of spin polarized tunneling currents in relation to the magnetic order parameter, and discuss how an interfacially suppressed order parameter leads to a temperature dependent tunneling current asymmetry. Analyzing the full parameter space reveals that the often overlooked barrier thickness plays a critical role in spin filter tunneling. With all else fixed, thicker barriers yield higher spin polarization, and allow a given polarization to be achieved at higher temperatures. This insight may open the door for new materials to serve as spin filter barriers.

Electrical resistivity of monolayers and bilayers of alkanethiols in tunnel junction with gate electrode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

York, Roger L.; Nacionales, David; Slowinski, Krzysztof

2005-01-01

The tunneling resistances of monolayers and bilayers of n-alkanethiols in macroscopic Hg-Hg junctions with an electrochemical gate are reported. The resistances near zero bias calculated per 1 hydrocarbon chain vary from (5 ± 4) x 10 12 Ω for n-nonanethiol to (4 ± 2) x 10 16 Ω for n-octadecanethiol. These values indicate that monolayers of hydrocarbons in Hg-Hg junctions are substantially more resistive as compared to measurements employing microscopic tunnel junctions. The tunneling resistances of monolayer junctions are approximately 1 order of magnitude larger than those of bilayer junctions containing the same number of atoms indicating inefficient electronic coupling across the non-bonded -CH 3 |Hg interface. The symmetric current-voltage curves observed for the asymmetric junctions of Hg-S-(CH 2 ) n -CH 3 |Hg type suggest that these junctions do not behave as molecular diodes. Additional experimental evidence for the nature of the -CH 3 |Hg interface in the Hg-S-(CH 2 ) n -CH 3 |Hg junction is also presented

Performance comparison between p–i–n and p–n junction tunneling field-effect transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Young Jun; Seo, Jae Hwa; Kang, In Man

2018-06-01

In this study, we investigated the direct-current (DC) and radio-frequency (RF) performances of p–i–n and p–n junction tunneling field-effect transistors (TFETs). Compared to the p–i–n junction TFET, the p–n junction TFET exhibited higher on-state current (I on) because the channel formation mechanism of the p–n junction TFET resulted in a narrower tunneling barrier and an expanded tunneling area. Further, the reduction of I on of the p–n junction TFET by the interface trap was smaller. Moreover, the p–n junction TFET exhibited lower gate-to-drain capacitance (C gd) because a depletion capacitance (C gd,dep) was formed by the depletion region under gate dielectric. Consequently, the p–n junction TFET achieved an improvement of cut-off frequency (f T) and intrinsic delay time (τ), which are related to the current performance and total gate capacitance (C gg). We confirmed the enhancement of device performances in terms of I on, f T, and τ by the conduction mechanism of the p–n junction TFET.

Flicker (1/f) noise in tunnel junction DC SQUIDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koch, R.H.; Clarke, J.; Goubau, W.M.; Martinis, J.M.; Pegrum, C.M.; Van Harlingen, D.J.

1983-01-01

We have measured the spectral density of the 1/f voltage noise in current-biased resistively shunted Josephson tunnel junctions and dc SQUIDs. A theory in which fluctuations in the temperature give rise to fluctuations in the critical current and hence in the voltage predicts the magnitude of the noise quite accurately for junctions with areas of about 2 x 10 4 μm 2 , but significantly overestimates the noise for junctions with areas of about 6 μm 2 . DC SQUIDs fabricated from these two types of junctions exhibit substantially more 1/f voltage noise than would be predicted from a model in which the noise arises from critical current fluctuations in the junctions. This result was confirmed by an experiment involving two different bias current and flux modulation schemes, which demonstrated that the predominant 1/f voltage noise arises not from critical current fluctuations, but from some unknown source that can be regarded as an apparent 1/f flux noise. Measurements on five different configurations of dc SQUIDs fabricated with thin-film tunnel junctions and with widely varying areas, inductances, and junction capacitances show that the spectral density of the 1/f equivalent flux noise is roughtly constant, within a factor of three of (10 -10 /f)phi 2 0 Hz -1 . It is emphasized that 1/f flux noise may not be the predominant source of 1/f noise in SQUIDS fabricated with other technologies

Normal-state conductance used to probe superconducting tunnel junctions for quantum computing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chaparro, Carlos; Bavier, Richard; Kim, Yong-Seung; Kim, Eunyoung; Oh, Seongshik [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Kline, Jeffrey S; Pappas, David P, E-mail: carlosch@physics.rutgers.ed, E-mail: ohsean@physics.rutgers.ed [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States)

2010-04-15

Here we report normal-state conductance measurements of three different types of superconducting tunnel junctions that are being used or proposed for quantum computing applications: p-Al/a-AlO/p-Al, e-Re/e-AlO/p-Al, and e-V/e-MgO/p-V, where p stands for polycrystalline, e for epitaxial, and a for amorphous. All three junctions exhibited significant deviations from the parabolic behavior predicted by the WKB approximation models. In the p-Al/a-AlO/p-Al junction, we observed enhancement of tunneling conductances at voltages matching harmonics of Al-O stretching modes. On the other hand, such Al-O vibration modes were missing in the epitaxial e-Re/e-AlO/p-Al junction. This suggests that absence or existence of the Al-O stretching mode might be related to the crystallinity of the AlO tunnel barrier and the interface between the electrode and the barrier. In the e-V/e-MgO/p-V junction, which is one of the candidate systems for future superconducting qubits, we observed suppression of the density of states at zero bias. This implies that the interface is electronically disordered, presumably due to oxidation of the vanadium surface underneath the MgO barrier, even if the interface was structurally well ordered, suggesting that the e-V/e-MgO/p-V junction will not be suitable for qubit applications in its present form. This also demonstrates that the normal-state conductance measurement can be effectively used to screen out low quality samples in the search for better superconducting tunnel junctions.

Effect of single Abrikosov vortices on the properties of Josephson tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golubov, A.A.; Kupriyanov, M.Yu.

1987-01-01

The effect of single Abrikosov vortices, trapped in the electrodes of a Josephson tunnel junction perpendicularly to the junction surface, on the tunnel current through the junction is studied within the framework of the microscopic theory. The current-voltage characteristic and the critical junction current I c are calculated for temperatures 0 c . It is shown that if the vortices at the junction are misaligned, singularities on the current-voltage characteristic appear at eV Δ (T), and in some cases the magnitude of suppression of I c may be of the order of magnitude of I c itself. The temperature dependence of the critical current is calculated for the case of one of the electrodes being a two-dimensional superconducting film in which the creation of opposite sign vortex pairs is significant

Magnetic tunnel junction thermocouple for thermoelectric power harvesting

Science.gov (United States)

Böhnert, T.; Paz, E.; Ferreira, R.; Freitas, P. P.

2018-05-01

The thermoelectric power generated in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) is determined as a function of the tunnel barrier thickness for a matched electric circuit. This study suggests that lower resistance area product and higher tunnel magnetoresistance will maximize the thermoelectric power output of the MTJ structures. Further, the thermoelectric behavior of a series of two MTJs, a MTJ thermocouple, is investigated as a function of its magnetic configurations. In an alternating magnetic configurations the thermovoltages cancel each other, while the magnetic contribution remains. A large array of MTJ thermocouples could amplify the magnetic thermovoltage signal significantly.

Advanced Metrology for Characterization of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjær, Daniel

-plane tunneling (CIPT) for characterization of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), which constitutes the key component not only in MRAM but also the read-heads of modern hard disk drives. MTJs are described by their tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR), which is the relative difference of the resistance area products (RA...... of this project has been to provide cheaper, faster and more precise metrology for MTJs. This goal has been achieved in part by the demonstration of a static field CIPT method, which allows us to reduce the measurement time by a factor of 5, by measuring only RA thus excluding TMR. This enhancement is obtained...

Magnetic microstructure of candidates for epitaxial dual Heusler magnetic tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaiser, A.; Banerjee, D.; Rata, A.D.; Wiemann, C.; Cramm, S.; Schneider, C.M.

2009-01-01

Heusler alloys are considered as interesting ferromagnetic electrode materials for magnetic tunnel junctions, because of their high spin polarization. We, therefore, investigated the micromagnetic properties in a prototypical thin film system comprising two different Heusler phases Co 2 MnSi (CMS) and Co 2 FeSi (CFS) separated by a MgO barrier. The magnetic microstructure was investigated by X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM). We find a strong influence of the Heusler phase formation process on the magnetic domain patterns. SiO 2 /V/CMS/MgO/CFS and SiO 2 /V/CFS/MgO/CMS trilayer structures exhibit a strikingly different magnetic behavior, which is due to pinhole coupling through the MgO barrier and a strong thickness dependence of the magnetic ordering in Co 2 MnSi

Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance driven by magnetic phase transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, X Z; Feng, J F; Wang, Z C; Zhang, J; Zhong, X Y; Song, C; Jin, L; Zhang, B; Li, F; Jiang, M; Tan, Y Z; Zhou, X J; Shi, G Y; Zhou, X F; Han, X D; Mao, S C; Chen, Y H; Han, X F; Pan, F

2017-09-06

The independent control of two magnetic electrodes and spin-coherent transport in magnetic tunnel junctions are strictly required for tunneling magnetoresistance, while junctions with only one ferromagnetic electrode exhibit tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance dependent on the anisotropic density of states with no room temperature performance so far. Here, we report an alternative approach to obtaining tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in α'-FeRh-based junctions driven by the magnetic phase transition of α'-FeRh and resultantly large variation of the density of states in the vicinity of MgO tunneling barrier, referred to as phase transition tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance. The junctions with only one α'-FeRh magnetic electrode show a magnetoresistance ratio up to 20% at room temperature. Both the polarity and magnitude of the phase transition tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance can be modulated by interfacial engineering at the α'-FeRh/MgO interface. Besides the fundamental significance, our finding might add a different dimension to magnetic random access memory and antiferromagnet spintronics.Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance is promising for next generation memory devices but limited by the low efficiency and functioning temperature. Here the authors achieved 20% tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance at room temperature in magnetic tunnel junctions with one α'-FeRh magnetic electrode.

Analog Approach to Constraint Satisfaction Enabled by Spin Orbit Torque Magnetic Tunnel Junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wijesinghe, Parami; Liyanagedera, Chamika; Roy, Kaushik

2018-05-02

Boolean satisfiability (k-SAT) is an NP-complete (k ≥ 3) problem that constitute one of the hardest classes of constraint satisfaction problems. In this work, we provide a proof of concept hardware based analog k-SAT solver, that is built using Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs). The inherent physics of MTJs, enhanced by device level modifications, is harnessed here to emulate the intricate dynamics of an analog satisfiability (SAT) solver. In the presence of thermal noise, the MTJ based system can successfully solve Boolean satisfiability problems. Most importantly, our results exhibit that, the proposed MTJ based hardware SAT solver is capable of finding a solution to a significant fraction (at least 85%) of hard 3-SAT problems, within a time that has a polynomial relationship with the number of variables(<50).

Scaling for quantum tunneling current in nano- and subnano-scale plasmonic junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Peng

2015-05-19

When two conductors are separated by a sufficiently thin insulator, electrical current can flow between them by quantum tunneling. This paper presents a self-consistent model of tunneling current in a nano- and subnano-meter metal-insulator-metal plasmonic junction, by including the effects of space charge and exchange correlation potential. It is found that the J-V curve of the junction may be divided into three regimes: direct tunneling, field emission, and space-charge-limited regime. In general, the space charge inside the insulator reduces current transfer across the junction, whereas the exchange-correlation potential promotes current transfer. It is shown that these effects may modify the current density by orders of magnitude from the widely used Simmons' formula, which is only accurate for a limited parameter space (insulator thickness > 1 nm and barrier height > 3 eV) in the direct tunneling regime. The proposed self-consistent model may provide a more accurate evaluation of the tunneling current in the other regimes. The effects of anode emission and material properties (i.e. work function of the electrodes, electron affinity and permittivity of the insulator) are examined in detail in various regimes. Our simple model and the general scaling for tunneling current may provide insights to new regimes of quantum plasmonics.

The role of Mg interface layer in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions with CoFe and CoFeB electrodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyunsoo Yang

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The tunneling spin polarization (TSP is directly measured from reactively sputter deposited crystalline MgO tunnel barriers with various CoFe(B compositions using superconducting tunneling spectroscopy. We find that the Mg interface layer thickness dependence of TSP values for CoFeB/Mg/MgO junctions is substantially different from those for CoFe/Mg/MgO especially in the pre-annealed samples due to the formation of boron oxide at the CoFeB/MgO interface. Annealing depletes boron at the interface thus requiring a finite Mg interface layer to prevent CoFeOx formation at the CoFeB/MgO interface so that the TSP values can be optimized by controlling Mg thickness.

Fabrication of TiN/AlN/TiN tunnel junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakayama, Takeru; Naruse, Masato; Myoren, Hiroaki; Taino, Tohru, E-mail: taino@mail.saitama-u.ac.jp

2016-11-15

Highlights: • We have fabricated TiN/AlN/TiN tunnel junctions with an epitaxial layer. • TiN and AlN films were deposited by dc and rf magnetron sputtering at ambient substrate temperatures. • The junctions have a V{sub g} = 1.1 mV, J{sub c} = 0.24 A/cm{sup 2}, R{sub sg}/R{sub n} of 7.2, and low subgap leakage current of 180 nA. - Abstract: We have fabricated TiN/AlN/TiN tunnel junctions with an epitaxial layer. The critical temperature of TiN can be changed in the range from 0.5 to 5.0 K. Therefore, it is easy to set 5.0 K as the target critical temperature. When a Superconducting Tunnel Junction (STJ) is operated as a photon detector, it is necessary to cool it to within 0.1 K of the critical temperature in consideration of the noise of the thermally stimulated currents. Because 0.3 K was desirable, as for the manufacture of general purpose photon detectors, the critical temperature 5.0 K. TiN and AlN films were deposited by dc and rf magnetron sputtering in a load-lock sputtering system at ambient substrate temperatures. The junctions have a gap voltage of V{sub g} = 1.1 mV, and critical current density of J{sub c} = 0.24 A/cm{sup 2}, and R{sub sg}/R{sub n} of 7.2, and low subgap leakage current (I{sub sub}@ 500 µV = 180 nA). We report our experiment system, the manufacture method and the junction properties in this paper.

Thermal stability analysis of thin film Ni-NiOx-Cr tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnan, S.; Emirov, Y.; Bhansali, S.; Stefanakos, E.; Goswami, Y.

2010-01-01

This research reports on the thermal stability of Ni-NiO x -Cr based Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) junction. Effect of annealing (250 to 400 o C) on the electrical and physical transport properties of this MIM stack was understood to determine the thermal budget allowable when using these diodes. MIM tunnel junctions were fabricated by sputtering and the NiO x was formed through reactive sputtering. The performance of the tunnel junctions after exposure to elevated temperatures was investigated using current-voltage measurements. This was correlated to the structural properties of the interfaces at different temperatures, characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy, X-ray Diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). MIM tunnel junctions annealed up to 350 o C demonstrated satisfactory current-voltage characteristics and sensitivity. MIM junctions exhibited improved electrical performance as they were heated to 250 o C (sensitivity of 42 V -1 and a zero-bias resistance of ∼300 Ω) due to improved crystallization of the layers within the stack. At temperatures over 350 o C, TEM and Energy Dispersive Spectra confirmed a breakdown of the MIM structure due to interdiffusion.

Rectified tunneling current response of bio-functionalized metal-bridge-metal junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yaqing; Offenhäusser, Andreas; Mayer, Dirk

2010-01-15

Biomolecular bridged nanostructures allow direct electrical addressing of electroactive biomolecules, which is of interest for the development of bioelectronic and biosensing hybrid junctions. In the present paper, the electroactive biomolecule microperoxidase-11 (MP-11) was integrated into metal-bridge-metal (MBM) junctions assembled from a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) setup. Before immobilization of MP-11, the Au working electrode was first modified by a self-assembled monolayer of 1-undecanethiol (UDT). A symmetric and potential independent response of current-bias voltage (I(t)/V(b)) was observed for the Au (substrate)/UDT/Au (tip) junction. However, the I(t)/V(b) characteristics became potential dependent and asymmetrical after binding of MP-11 between the electrodes of the junction. The rectification ratio of the asymmetric current response varies with gate electrode modulation. A resonant tunneling process between metal electrode and MP-11 enhances the tunneling current and is responsible for the observed rectification. Our investigations demonstrated that functional building blocks of proteins can be reassembled into new conceptual devices with operation modes deviating from their native function, which could prove highly useful in the design of future biosensors and bioelectronic devices. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phonon spectroscopy with superconducting tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grimshaw, J.M.

1984-02-01

Superconducting tunnel junctions can be used as generators and detectors of monochromatic phonons of frequency larger than 80 GHz, as was first devised by Eisenmenger and Dayem (1967) and Kinder (1972a, 1973). In this report, we intend to give a general outline of this type of spectroscopy and to present the results obtained so far. The basic physics underlying phonon generation and detection are described in chapter I, a wider approach being given in the references therein. In chapter II, the different types of junctions are considered with respect to their use. Chapter III deals with the evaporation technique for the superconducting junctions. The last part of this report is devoted to the results that we have obtained on γ-irradiated LiF, pure Si and Phosphorous implanted Si. In these chapters, the limitations of the spectrometer are brought out and suggestions for further work are given [fr

Suppression of tunneling by interference in half-integer--spin particles

OpenAIRE

Loss, Daniel; DiVincenzo, David P.; Grinstein, G.

1992-01-01

Within a wide class of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems, quantum tunneling of magnetization direction is spin-parity dependent: it vanishes for magnetic particles with half-integer spin, but is allowed for integer spin. A coherent-state path integral calculation shows that this topological effect results from interference between tunneling paths.

Effect of quantum tunneling on spin Hall magnetoresistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ok, Seulgi; Chen, Wei; Sigrist, Manfred; Manske, Dirk

2017-02-22

We present a formalism that simultaneously incorporates the effect of quantum tunneling and spin diffusion on the spin Hall magnetoresistance observed in normal metal/ferromagnetic insulator bilayers (such as Pt/Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 ) and normal metal/ferromagnetic metal bilayers (such as Pt/Co), in which the angle of magnetization influences the magnetoresistance of the normal metal. In the normal metal side the spin diffusion is known to affect the landscape of the spin accumulation caused by spin Hall effect and subsequently the magnetoresistance, while on the ferromagnet side the quantum tunneling effect is detrimental to the interface spin current which also affects the spin accumulation. The influence of generic material properties such as spin diffusion length, layer thickness, interface coupling, and insulating gap can be quantified in a unified manner, and experiments that reveal the quantum feature of the magnetoresistance are suggested.

Spin-flip effects on the supercurrent through mesoscopic superconducting junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Hui; Lin Tsunghan

2005-01-01

We investigate the spin-flip effects on the Andreev bound states and the supercurrent in a superconductor/quantum-dot/superconductor system, theoretically. The spin-flip scattering in the quantum dot can reverse the supercurrent flowing through the system, which results in a π-junction transition. By controlling the energy level of the quantum dot, the π-junction transition can be caused to occur again. The two mechanisms of the π-junction transitions are interpreted within the picture of Andreev bound states

Observation of large low field magnetoresistance in ramp-edge tunneling junctions based on doped manganite ferromagnetic electrodes and a SrTiO{sub 3} insulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, C.; Jia, Q.X.; Fan, Y.; Hundley, M.F.; Reagor, D.W.; Hawley, M.E.; Peterson, D.E.

1998-07-01

The authors report the fabrication of ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet junction devices using a ramp-edge geometry based on (La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3})MnO{sub 3} ferromagnetic electrodes and a SrTiO{sub 3} insulator. The multilayer thin films were deposited using pulsed laser deposition and the devices were patterned using photolithography and ion milling. As expected from the spin-dependent tunneling, the junction magnetoresistance depends on the relative orientation of the magnetization in the electrodes. The maximum junction magnetoresistance (JMR) of 30% is observed below 300 Oe at low temperatures (T < 100 K).

'Al' concentration on spin-dependent resonant tunnelling in InAs/Ga

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The separation between spin-up and spin-down components, barrier transparency, polarization efficiency and tunnelling lifetime were calculated using the transfer matrix approach. The separation between spin-up and spin-down resonances and tunnelling lifetime were reportedfor the first time in the case of InAs/Ga 1 − y ...

Noise spectroscopy of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions in the presence of thermal gradients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liebing, N. [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, d-38116 Braunschweig (Germany); Serrano-Guisan, S., E-mail: santiago.serrano-guisan@inl.int [International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Avenida Mestre Jose Veiga, 4715-330 Braga (Portugal); Rott, K.; Reiss, G. [University of Bielefeld, Department of Physics, Univesitätesstr. 25, d-33615 Bielefeld (Germany); Schumacher, H.W., E-mail: hans.w.schumacher@ptb.de [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, d-38116 Braunschweig (Germany)

2016-02-15

We present experimental data of the precessional dynamics of the free layer of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) in the presence of thermal gradients across the MTJ. The free layer precession is investigated by noise spectroscopy. Thermal gradients of the order of tens of mK/nm across the MTJ are generated by electrical heating. Without applied thermal gradients we find spin transfer torque modified magnetization precession. With increasing thermal gradients we generally observe a decrease of the precession frequency which could be related to an increasing overall free layer temperature. However an asymmetry of the line width behavior for parallel and antiparallel orientation points towards additional effects beyond thermal activation. This could be a hint for the modification of the precessional dynamics in magnetic tunnel junctions by thermal spin torques. - Highlights: • Thermal gradients induced magnetization dynamics on MTJ structures are explored. • Magnetic noise spectroscopy is carried out to study the efficiency of such effects. • A decrease of resonance frequency is observed at both MTJ states for large ∇T. • An asymmetric linewidth behavior is observed for both MTJ states under ∇T. • Additional thermal effects beyond thermal activation must be considered.

Tunneling effect of the spin-2 Bose condensate driven by external magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Zhaoxian; Jiao Zhiyong

2004-01-01

In this Letter, we have studied tunneling effect of the spin-2 Bose condensate driven by external magnetic field. We find that the population transfers among spin-0 and spin-±1, spin-0 and spin-±2 exhibit the step structure under the external cosinusoidal magnetic field, respectively, but there do not exist step structure among spin-±1 and spin-±2. The tunneling current among spin-±1 and spin-±2 may exhibit periodically oscillation behavior, but among spin-0 and spin-±1, spin-0 and spin-±2, the tunneling currents exhibit irregular oscillation behavior

Investigation of non-collinear spin states with scanning tunneling microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wulfhekel, W; Gao, C L

2010-03-05

Most ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic substances show a simple collinear arrangement of the local spins. Under certain circumstances, however, the spin configuration is non-collinear. Scanning tunneling microscopy with its potential atomic resolution is an ideal tool for investigating these complex spin structures. Non-collinearity can be due to topological frustration of the exchange interaction, due to relativistic spin-orbit coupling or can be found in excited states. Examples for all three cases are given, illustrating the capabilities of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy.

Q factor and resonance amplitude of Josephson tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broom, R.F.; Wolf, P.

1977-01-01

The surface impedance of the superconducting films comprising the electrodes of Josephson tunnel junctions has been derived from the BCS theory in the extreme London limit. Expressions have been obtained for (i) the dependence of the penetration depth lambda on frequency and temperature, and (ii) the quality factor Q of the junction cavity, attributable to surface absorption in the electrodes. The effect of thin electrodes (t 9 or approx. = lambda) is also included in the calculations. Comparison of the calculated frequency dependence of lambda with resonance measurements on Pb-alloy and all-Nb tunnel junctions yields quite good agreement, indicating that the assumptions made in the theory are reasonable. Measurements of the (current) amplitude of the resonance peaks of the junctions have been compared with the values obtained from inclusion of the calculated Q in the theory by Kulik. In common with observations on microwave cavities by other workers, we find that a small residual conductivity must be added to the real part of the BCS value. With its inclusion, good agreement is found between calculation and experiment, within the range determined by the simplifying assumptions of Kulik's theory. From the results, we believe the calculation of Q to be reasonably accurate for the materials investigated. It is shown that the resonance amplitude of Josephson junctions can be calculated directly from the material constants and a knowledge of the residual conductivity

Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grezes, C.; Alzate, J. G.; Cai, X.; Wang, K. L. [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); Ebrahimi, F.; Khalili Amiri, P. [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); Inston, Inc., Los Angeles, California 90024 (United States); Katine, J. A. [HGST, Inc., San Jose, California 95135 (United States); Langer, J.; Ocker, B. [Singulus Technologies AG, Kahl am Main 63796 (Germany)

2016-01-04

We report electric-field-induced switching with write energies down to 6 fJ/bit for switching times of 0.5 ns, in nanoscale perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with high resistance-area product and diameters down to 50 nm. The ultra-low switching energy is made possible by a thick MgO barrier that ensures negligible spin-transfer torque contributions, along with a reduction of the Ohmic dissipation. We find that the switching voltage and time are insensitive to the junction diameter for high-resistance MTJs, a result accounted for by a macrospin model of purely voltage-induced switching. The measured performance enables integration with same-size CMOS transistors in compact memory and logic integrated circuits.

Nb/NiCu bilayers in single and stacked superconductive tunnel junctions: preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pepe, G.P.; Ruotolo, A.; Parlato, L.; Peluso, G.; Ausanio, G.; Carapella, G.; Latempa, R.

2004-01-01

We present preliminary experimental results concerning both single and stacked tunnel junctions in which one of the electrodes was formed by a superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) bi-layer. In particular, in the stacked configuration a Nb/NiCu bi-layer was used as the intermediate electrode, and it was probed by tunneling on both sides. Tunnel junctions have been characterized in terms of current-voltage characteristics (IVC), and differential conductance. Preliminary steady-state injection-detection measurements performed in the stacked devices at T=4.2 K are also presented and discussed

Spin Torque Oscillator for High Performance Magnetic Memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachid Sbiaa

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A study on spin transfer torque switching in a magnetic tunnel junction with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is presented. The switching current can be strongly reduced under a spin torque oscillator (STO, and its use in addition to the conventional transport in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ should be considered. The reduction of the switching current from the parallel state to the antiparallel state is greater than in  the opposite direction, thus minimizing the asymmetry of the resistance versus current in the hysteresis loop. This reduction of both switching current and asymmetry under a spin torque oscillator occurs only during the writing process and does not affect the thermal stability of the free layer.

Strain-enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

OpenAIRE

Loong, Li Ming; Qiu, Xuepeng; Neo, Zhi Peng; Deorani, Praveen; Wu, Yang; Bhatia, Charanjit S.; Saeys, Mark; Yang, Hyunsoo

2014-01-01

While the effects of lattice mismatch-induced strain, mechanical strain, as well as the intrinsic strain of thin films are sometimes detrimental, resulting in mechanical deformation and failure, strain can also be usefully harnessed for applications such as data storage, transistors, solar cells, and strain gauges, among other things. Here, we demonstrate that quantum transport across magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) can be significantly affected by the introduction of controllable mechanical...

Josephson tunnel junctions in a magnetic field gradient

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Monaco, R.; Mygind, Jesper; Koshelets, V.P.

2011-01-01

We measured the magnetic field dependence of the critical current of high-quality Nb-based planar Josephson tunnel junctions in the presence of a controllable nonuniform field distribution. We found skewed and slowly changing magnetic diffraction patterns quite dissimilar from the Fraunhofer...

Strain-assisted current-induced magnetization reversal in magnetic tunnel junctions: A micromagnetic study with phase-field microelasticity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, H. B.; Hu, J. M.; Yang, T. N.; Chen, L. Q.; Ma, X. Q.

2014-01-01

Effect of substrate misfit strain on current-induced in-plane magnetization reversal in CoFeB-MgO based magnetic tunnel junctions is investigated by combining micromagnetic simulations with phase-field microelasticity theory. It is found that the critical current density for in-plane magnetization reversal decreases dramatically with an increasing substrate strain, since the effective elastic field can drag the magnetization to one of the four in-plane diagonal directions. A potential strain-assisted multilevel bit spin transfer magnetization switching device using substrate misfit strain is also proposed.

InAs/Si Hetero-Junction Nanotube Tunnel Transistors

KAUST Repository

Hanna, Amir; Fahad, Hossain M.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2015-01-01

Hetero-structure tunnel junctions in non-planar gate-all-around nanowire (GAA NW) tunnel FETs (TFETs) have shown significant enhancement in ‘ON’ state tunnel current over their all-silicon counterpart. Here we show the unique concept of nanotube TFET in a hetero-structure configuration that is capable of much higher drive current as opposed to that of GAA NW TFETs.Through the use of inner/outer core-shell gates, a single III-V hetero-structured nanotube TFET leverages physically larger tunneling area while achieving higher driver current (ION) and saving real estates by eliminating arraying requirement. Numerical simulations has shown that a 10 nm thin nanotube TFET with a 100 nm core gate has a 5×normalized output current compared to a 10 nm diameter GAA NW TFET.

InAs/Si Hetero-Junction Nanotube Tunnel Transistors

KAUST Repository

Hanna, Amir

2015-04-29

Hetero-structure tunnel junctions in non-planar gate-all-around nanowire (GAA NW) tunnel FETs (TFETs) have shown significant enhancement in ‘ON’ state tunnel current over their all-silicon counterpart. Here we show the unique concept of nanotube TFET in a hetero-structure configuration that is capable of much higher drive current as opposed to that of GAA NW TFETs.Through the use of inner/outer core-shell gates, a single III-V hetero-structured nanotube TFET leverages physically larger tunneling area while achieving higher driver current (ION) and saving real estates by eliminating arraying requirement. Numerical simulations has shown that a 10 nm thin nanotube TFET with a 100 nm core gate has a 5×normalized output current compared to a 10 nm diameter GAA NW TFET.

Spin-polarized tunneling through a ferromagnetic insulator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kok, M.; Kok, M.; Beukers, J.N.; Brinkman, Alexander

2009-01-01

The polarization of the tunnel conductance of spin-selective ferromagnetic insulators is modeled, providing a generalized concept of polarization including both the effects of electrode and barrier polarization. The polarization model is extended to take additional non-spin-polarizing insulating

Comparison of band-to-band tunneling models in Si and Si—Ge junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiao Yipeng; Wang Taihuan; Wei Kangliang; Du Gang; Liu Xiaoyan

2013-01-01

We compared several different band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) models with both Sentaurus and the two-dimensional full-band Monte Carlo simulator in Si homo-junctions and Si—Ge hetero-junctions. It was shown that in Si homo-junctions, different models could achieve similar results. However, in the Si—Ge hetero-junctions, there were significant differences among these models at high reverse biases (over 2 V). Compared to the nonlocal model, the local models in Sentaurus underrated the BTBT rate distinctly, and the Monte Carlo method was shown to give a better approximation. Additionally, it was found that in the Si region near the interface of the Si—Ge hetero-junctions, the direct tunneling rates increased largely due to the interaction of the band structures of Si and Ge. (semiconductor physics)

Fabrication of sub-micron whole waffer SIS tunnel junctions for millimeter wave mixers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huq, S.E.; Blamire, M.G.; Evetts, J.E.; Hasko, D.G.; Ahmed, H.

1991-01-01

As a part of a programme for the development of a space-qualified sub-mm-wave mixer operating in the region of one terahertz we have been developing the processes required for the fabrication of submicron whole wafer tunnel junctions. Using the self-aligned whole-wafer process (SAWW) with electron beam lithography we have been able to reliably fabricate high quality (V m > 20 mV) submicron tunnel junctions from whole wafer Nb/AlO x /Nb structures. In particular we show that the junction quality is independent of size down to 0.3 μm 2 junction area. The problems of film stress, anodization, registration for electron beam lithography and lift-off, which limit the yield of good quality sub-micron scale junctions are addressed in this paper

Terahertz Mixing Characteristics of NbN Superconducting Tunnel Junctions and Related Astronomical Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, J.

2010-01-01

High-sensitivity superconducting SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) mixers are playing an increasingly important role in the terahertz (THz) astronomical observation, which is an emerging research frontier in modern astrophysics. Superconducting SIS mixers with niobium (Nb) tunnel junctions have reached a sensitivity close to the quantum limit, but have a frequency limit about 0.7 THz (i.e., gap frequency of Nb tunnel junctions). Beyond this frequency Nb superconducting films will absorb energetic photons (i.e., energy loss) to break Cooper pairs, thereby resulting in significant degradation of the mixer performance. Therefore, it is of particular interest to develop THz superconducting SIS mixers incorporating tunnel junctions with a larger energy gap. Niobium-nitride (NbN) superconducting tunnel junctions have been long known for their large energy gap, almost double that of Nb ones. With the introduction of epitaxially grown NbN films, the fabrication technology of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions has been considerably improved in the recent years. Nevertheless, their performances are still not as good as Nb ones, and furthermore they are not yet demonstrated in real astronomical applications. Given the facts mentioned above, in this paper we systematically study the quantum mixing behaviors of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions in the THz regime and demonstrate an astronomical testing observation with a 0.5 THz superconducting SIS mixer developed with NbN tunnel junctions. The main results of this study include: (1) successful design and fabrication of a 0.4˜0.6 THz waveguide mixing circuit with the high-dielectric-constant MgO substrate; (2) successful fabrication of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions with the gap voltage reaching 5.6 mV and the quality factor as high as 15; (3) demonstration of a 0.5 THz waveguide NbN superconducting SIS mixer with a measured receiver noise temperature (no correction) as low as five times the quantum limit

Impact of semiconducting electrodes on the electroresistance of ferroelectric tunnel junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Asa, M.; Bertacco, R.

2018-02-01

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions are promising candidates for the realization of energy-efficient digital memories and analog memcomputing devices. In this work, we investigate the impact of a semiconducting layer in series to the junction on the sign of electroresistance. To this scope, we compare tunnel junctions fabricated out of Pt/BaTiO3/La1/3Sr2/3MnO3 (LSMO) and Pt/BaTiO3/Nb:SrTiO3 (Nb:STO) heterostructures, displaying an opposite sign of the electroresistance. By capacitance-voltage profiling, we observe a behavior typical of Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor tunnel devices in both cases but compatible with the opposite sign of charge carriers in the semiconducting layer. While Nb:STO displays the expected n-type semiconducting character, metallic LSMO develops an interfacial p-type semiconducting layer. The different types of carriers at the semiconducting interfaces and the modulation of the depleted region by the ferroelectric charge have a deep impact on electroresistance, possibly accounting for the different sign observed in the two systems.

Quantum decrease of capacitance in a nanometer-sized tunnel junction

Science.gov (United States)

Untiedt, C.; Saenz, G.; Olivera, B.; Corso, M.; Sabater, C.; Pascual, J. I.

2013-03-01

We have studied the capacitance of the tunnel junction defined by the tip and sample of a Scanning Tunnelling Microscope through the measurement of the electrostatic forces and impedance of the junction. A decrease of the capacitance when a tunnel current is present has shown to be a more general phenomenon as previously reported in other systems. On another hand, an unexpected reduction of the capacitance is also observed when increasing the applied voltage above the work function energy of the electrodes to the Field Emission (FE) regime, and the decrease of capacitance due to a single FE-Resonance has been characterized. All these effects should be considered when doing measurements of the electronic characteristics of nanometer-sized electronic devices and have been neglected up to date. Spanish government (FIS2010-21883-C02-01, CONSOLIDER CSD2007-0010), Comunidad Valenciana (ACOMP/2012/127 and PROMETEO/2012/011)

Output voltage calculations in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with asymmetric voltage behavior

KAUST Repository

Useinov, Arthur

2011-10-22

In this paper we study the asymmetric voltage behavior (AVB) of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) for single and double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) in range of a quasi-classical free electron model. Numerical calculations of the TMR-V curves, output voltages and I-V characteristics for negative and positive values of applied voltages were carried out using MTJs with CoFeB/MgO interfaces as an example. Asymmetry of the experimental TMR-V curves is explained by different values of the minority and majority Fermi wave vectors for the left and right sides of the tunnel barrier, which arises due to different annealing regimes. Electron tunneling in DMTJs was simulated in two ways: (i) Coherent tunneling, where the DMTJ is modeled as one tunnel system and (ii) consecutive tunneling, where the DMTJ is modeled by two single barrier junctions connected in series. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Observation of spin-selective tunneling in SiGe nanocrystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Katsaros, G; Golovach, V N; Spathis, P; Ares, N; Stoffel, M; Fournel, F; Schmidt, O G; Glazman, L I; De Franceschi, S

2011-12-09

Spin-selective tunneling of holes in SiGe nanocrystals contacted by normal-metal leads is reported. The spin selectivity arises from an interplay of the orbital effect of the magnetic field with the strong spin-orbit interaction present in the valence band of the semiconductor. We demonstrate both experimentally and theoretically that spin-selective tunneling in semiconductor nanostructures can be achieved without the use of ferromagnetic contacts. The reported effect, which relies on mixing the light and heavy holes, should be observable in a broad class of quantum-dot systems formed in semiconductors with a degenerate valence band.

Resonant tunneling of spin-wave packets via quantized states in potential wells.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Ulf-Hendrik; Gatzen, Marius; Demidov, Vladislav E; Demokritov, Sergej O

2007-09-21

We have studied the tunneling of spin-wave pulses through a system of two closely situated potential barriers. The barriers represent two areas of inhomogeneity of the static magnetic field, where the existence of spin waves is forbidden. We show that for certain values of the spin-wave frequency corresponding to the quantized spin-wave states existing in the well formed between the barriers, the tunneling has a resonant character. As a result, transmission of spin-wave packets through the double-barrier structure is much more efficient than the sequent tunneling through two single barriers.

PREFACE: Spin Electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Dieny, B.; Sousa, R.; Prejbeanu, L.

2007-04-01

Conventional electronics has in the past ignored the spin on the electron, however things began to change in 1988 with the discovery of giant magnetoresistance in metallic thin film stacks which led to the development of a new research area, so called spin-electronics. In the last 10 years, spin-electronics has achieved a number of breakthroughs from the point of view of both basic science and application. Materials research has led to several major discoveries: very large tunnel magnetoresistance effects in tunnel junctions with crystalline barriers due to a new spin-filtering mechanism associated with the spin-dependent symmetry of the electron wave functions new magnetic tunnelling barriers leading to spin-dependent tunnelling barrier heights and acting as spin-filters magnetic semiconductors with increasingly high ordering temperature. New phenomena have been predicted and observed: the possibility of acting on the magnetization of a magnetic nanostructure with a spin-polarized current. This effect, due to a transfer of angular momentum between the spin polarized conduction electrons and the local magnetization, can be viewed as the reciprocal of giant or tunnel magnetoresistance. It can be used to switch the magnetization of a magnetic nanostructure or to generate steady magnetic excitations in the system. the possibility of generating and manipulating spin current without charge current by creating non-equilibrium local accumulation of spin up or spin down electrons. The range of applications of spin electronics materials and phenomena is expanding: the first devices based on giant magnetoresistance were the magnetoresistive read-heads for computer disk drives. These heads, introduced in 1998 with current-in plane spin-valves, have evolved towards low resistance tunnel magnetoresistice heads in 2005. Besides magnetic recording technology, these very sensitive magnetoresistive sensors are finding applications in other areas, in particular in biology. magnetic

Temperature dependence of microwave oscillations in magnetic tunnel junctions with a perpendicularly magnetized free layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Peng; Feng, Jiafeng; Wei, Hongxiang; Han, Xiufeng; Fang, Bin; Zhang, Baoshun; Zeng, Zhongming

2015-01-01

We experimentally study the temperature dependence of the spin-transfer-torque-induced microwave oscillations in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction nanopillars with a perpendicularly magnetized free layer. We demonstrate that the oscillation frequency increases rapidly with decreasing temperature, which is mainly ascribed to the temperature dependence of both the saturation magnetization and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. We also find that a strong temperature dependence of the output power while a nonmonotonic temperature dependence of spectral linewidth are maintained for a constant dc bias in measured temperature range. Possible mechanisms leading to the different dependences of oscillation frequency, output power, and linewidth are discussed

Josephson tunnel junction microwave attenuator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koshelets, V. P.; Shitov, S. V.; Shchukin, A. V.

1993-01-01

A new element for superconducting electronic circuitry-a variable attenuator-has been proposed, designed, and successfully tested. The principle of operation is based on the change in the microwave impedance of a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) Josephson tunnel junction when dc biased...... at different points in the current-voltage characteristic. Both numerical calculations based on the Tien-Gordon theory and 70-GHz microwave experiments have confirmed the wide dynamic range (more than 15-dB attenuation for one stage) and the low insertion loss in the ''open'' state. The performance of a fully...

InP tunnel junctions for InP/InGaAs tandem solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Vilela, Mauro F.; Freundlich, Alex; Renaud, P.; Medelci, N.; Bensaoula, A.

1996-01-01

We report, for the first time, an epitaxially grown InP p(+)/n(++) tunnel junction. A diode with peak current densities up to 1600 A/cm and maximum specific resistivities (Vp/Ip - peak voltage to peak current ratio) in the range of 10(exp -4)Omega cm(exp 2) is obtained. This peak current density is comparable to the highest results previously reported for lattice matched In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As tunnel junctions. Both results were obtained using chemical beam epitaxy (CBE). In this paper we discuss the electrical characteristics of these tunnel diodes and how the growth conditions influence them.

Superconducting Tunnel Junction Arrays for UV Photon Detection, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — An innovative method is described for the fabrication of superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) detector arrays offering true "three dimensional" imaging throughout...

Inter-band phase fluctuations in macroscopic quantum tunneling of multi-gap superconducting Josephson junctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asai, Hidehiro, E-mail: hd-asai@aist.go.jp [Electronics and Photonics Research Institute (ESPRIT), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Ota, Yukihiro [CCSE, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8587 (Japan); Kawabata, Shiro [Electronics and Photonics Research Institute (ESPRIT), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Nori, Franco [CEMS, RIKEN, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Physics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1040 (United States)

2014-09-15

Highlights: • We study MQT in Josephson junctions composed of multi-gap superconductors. • We derive a formula of the MQT escape rate for multiple phase differences. • We investigate the effect of inter-band phase fluctuation on MQT. • The MQT escape rate is significantly enhanced by the inter-band phase fluctuation. - Abstract: We theoretically investigate macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in a hetero Josephson junction formed by a conventional single-gap superconductor and a multi-gap superconductor. In such Josephson junctions, phase differences for each tunneling channel are defined, and the fluctuation of the relative phase differences appear which is referred to as Josephson–Leggett’s mode. We take into account the effect of the fluctuation in the tunneling process and calculate the MQT escape rate for various junction parameters. We show that the fluctuation of relative phase differences drastically enhances the escape rate.

Inter-band phase fluctuations in macroscopic quantum tunneling of multi-gap superconducting Josephson junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asai, Hidehiro; Ota, Yukihiro; Kawabata, Shiro; Nori, Franco

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We study MQT in Josephson junctions composed of multi-gap superconductors. • We derive a formula of the MQT escape rate for multiple phase differences. • We investigate the effect of inter-band phase fluctuation on MQT. • The MQT escape rate is significantly enhanced by the inter-band phase fluctuation. - Abstract: We theoretically investigate macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in a hetero Josephson junction formed by a conventional single-gap superconductor and a multi-gap superconductor. In such Josephson junctions, phase differences for each tunneling channel are defined, and the fluctuation of the relative phase differences appear which is referred to as Josephson–Leggett’s mode. We take into account the effect of the fluctuation in the tunneling process and calculate the MQT escape rate for various junction parameters. We show that the fluctuation of relative phase differences drastically enhances the escape rate

Spin Tunneling in a Rotating Nanomagnet

Science.gov (United States)

O'Keeffe, Michael; Chudnovsky, Eugene; Lehman College Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics Team

2011-03-01

We study spin tunneling in a magnetic nanoparticle with biaxial anisotropy that is free to rotate about its anisotropy axis. Exact instanton of the coupled equations of motion is found that connects degenerate classical energy minima. We show that mechanical freedom of the particle renormalizes magnetic anisotropy and increases the tunnel splitting. M. F. O'Keeffe and E. M. Chudnovsky, cond-mat, arXiv:1011.3134.

Theory of magnetoresistance of organic molecular tunnel junctions with nonmagnetic electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Sha; Xie, Zuoti; Liu, Feilong; Smith, Darryl L.; Frisbie, C. Daniel; Ruden, P. Paul

2017-04-01

Large room-temperature magnetoresistance observed for devices composed of self-assembled monolayers of different oligophenylene thiols sandwiched between gold contacts has recently been reported [Z. Xie, S. Shi, F. Liu, D. L. Smith, P. P. Ruden, and C. D. Frisbie, ACS Nano 10, 8571 (2016), 10.1021/acsnano.6b03853]. The transport mechanism through the organic molecules was determined to be nonresonant tunneling. To explain this kind of magnetoresistance, we develop an analytical model based on the interaction of the tunneling charge carrier with an unpaired charge carrier populating a contact-molecule interface state. The Coulomb interaction between carriers causes the transmission coefficients to depend on their relative spin orientation. Singlet and triplet pairing of the tunneling and the interface carriers thus correspond to separate conduction channels with different transmission probabilities. Spin relaxation enabling transitions between the different channels, and therefore tending to maximize the tunneling current for a given applied bias, can be suppressed by relatively small magnetic fields, leading to large magnetoresistance. Our model elucidates how the Coulomb interaction gives rise to transmission probabilities that depend on spin and how an applied magnetic field can inhibit transitions between different spin configurations.

Probing spin-polarized tunneling at high bias and temperature with a magnetic tunnel transistor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Park, B.G.; Banerjee, T.; Min, B.C.; Sanderink, Johannes G.M.; Lodder, J.C.; Jansen, R.

2005-01-01

The magnetic tunnel transistor (MTT) is a three terminal hybrid device that consists of a tunnel emitter, a ferromagnetic (FM) base, and a semiconductor collector. In the MTT with a FM emitter and a single FM base, spin-polarized hot electrons are injected into the base by tunneling. After

Tunneling rates in electron transport through double-barrier molecular junctions in a scanning tunneling microscope

OpenAIRE

Nazin, G. V.; Wu, S. W.; Ho, W.

2005-01-01

The scanning tunneling microscope enables atomic-scale measurements of electron transport through individual molecules. Copper phthalocyanine and magnesium porphine molecules adsorbed on a thin oxide film grown on the NiAl(110) surface were probed. The single-molecule junctions contained two tunneling barriers, vacuum gap, and oxide film. Differential conductance spectroscopy shows that electron transport occurs via vibronic states of the molecules. The intensity of spectral peaks correspondi...

L10-MnGa based magnetic tunnel junction for high magnetic field sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, X. P.; Lu, J.; Mao, S. W.; Yu, Z. F.; Wang, H. L.; Wang, X. L.; Wei, D. H.; Zhao, J. H.

2017-07-01

We report on the investigation of the magnetic tunnel junction structure designed for high magnetic field sensors with a perpendicularly magnetized L10-MnGa reference layer and an in-plane magnetized Fe sensing layer. A large linear tunneling magnetoresistance ratio up to 27.4% and huge dynamic range up to 5600 Oe have been observed at 300 K, with a low nonlinearity of 0.23% in the optimized magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). The field response of tunneling magnetoresistance is discussed to explain the field sensing properties in the dynamic range. These results indicate that L10-MnGa based orthogonal MTJ is a promising candidate for a high performance magnetic field sensor with a large dynamic range, high endurance and low power consumption.

Parity Anomaly and Spin Transmutation in Quantum Spin Hall Josephson Junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Yang; Vinkler-Aviv, Yuval; Brouwer, Piet W; Glazman, Leonid I; von Oppen, Felix

2016-12-23

We study the Josephson effect in a quantum spin Hall system coupled to a localized magnetic impurity. As a consequence of the fermion parity anomaly, the spin of the combined system of impurity and spin-Hall edge alternates between half-integer and integer values when the superconducting phase difference across the junction advances by 2π. This leads to characteristic differences in the splittings of the spin multiplets by exchange coupling and single-ion anisotropy at phase differences, for which time-reversal symmetry is preserved. We discuss the resulting 8π-periodic (or Z_{4}) fractional Josephson effect in the context of recent experiments.

Spin Torques in Systems with Spin Filtering and Spin Orbit Interaction

KAUST Repository

Ortiz Pauyac, Christian

2016-06-19

In the present thesis we introduce the reader to the field of spintronics and explore new phenomena, such as spin transfer torques, spin filtering, and three types of spin-orbit torques, Rashba, spin Hall, and spin swapping, which have emerged very recently and are promising candidates for a new generation of memory devices in computer technology. A general overview of these phenomena is presented in Chap. 1. In Chap. 2 we study spin transfer torques in tunnel junctions in the presence of spin filtering. In Chap. 3 we discuss the Rashba torque in ferromagnetic films, and in Chap. 4 we study spin Hall effect and spin swapping in ferromagnetic films, exploring the nature of spin-orbit torques based on these mechanisms. Conclusions and perspectives are summarized in Chap. 5.

Fabrication and dc characteristics of small-area tantalum and niobium superconducting tunnel junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Face, D.W.; Prober, D.E.

1987-01-01

We discuss the fabrication and dc electrical characteristics of small-area (1--6 μm 2 ) superconducting tunnel junctions with Ta or Nb base electrodes and Pb or Pb/sub 0.9/Bi/sub 0.1/ counterelectrodes. These junctions have very small subgap leakage currents, a ''sharp'' current rise at the sum-gap voltage, and show strong quantum effects when used as microwave mixers. The use of a low-energy (--150 eV) ion cleaning process and a novel step-defined fabrication process that eliminates photoresist processing after base electrode deposition are discussed. Tunnel barriers formed by dc glow discharge oxidation were the most successful. Tunnel barrier formation by thermal oxidation and ion-beam oxidation is also discussed. An oxidized Ta overlayer (--7 nm thick) was found to improve the characteristics of Nb-based junctions. The electrical characteristics of junctions with different electrode and barrier materials are presented and discussed in terms of the physical mechanisms that lead to excess subgap current and to a width of the current rise at the sum-gap voltage

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of a single nuclear spin.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado, F; Fernández-Rossier, J

2011-08-12

Detection of a single nuclear spin constitutes an outstanding problem in different fields of physics such as quantum computing or magnetic imaging. Here we show that the energy levels of a single nuclear spin can be measured by means of inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS). We consider two different systems, a magnetic adatom probed with scanning tunneling microscopy and a single Bi dopant in a silicon nanotransistor. We find that the hyperfine coupling opens new transport channels which can be resolved at experimentally accessible temperatures. Our simulations evince that IETS yields information about the occupations of the nuclear spin states, paving the way towards transport-detected single nuclear spin resonance.

Radiation tolerance of a spin-dependent tunnelling magnetometer for space applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persson, Anders; Thornell, Greger; Nguyen, Hugo

2011-01-01

To meet the increasing demand for miniaturized space instruments, efforts have been made to miniaturize traditional magnetometers, e.g. fluxgate and spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetometers. These have, for different reasons, turned out to be difficult. New technologies are needed, and promising in this respect are tunnelling magnetoresistive (TMR) magnetometers, which are based on thin film technology. However, all new space devices first have to be qualified, particularly in terms of radiation resistance. A study on TMR magnetometers' vulnerability to radiation is crucial, considering the fact that they employ a dielectric barrier, which can be susceptible to charge trapping from ionizing radiation. Here, a TMR-based magnetometer, called the spin-dependent tunnelling magnetometer (SDTM), is presented. A magnetometer chip consisting of three Wheatstone bridges, with an angular pitch of 120°, was fabricated using microstructure technology. Each branch of the Wheatstone bridges consists of eight pairs of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) connected in series. Two such chips are used to measure the three-dimensional magnetic field vector. To investigate the SDTM's resistance to radiation, one branch of a Wheatstone bridge was irradiated with gamma rays from a Co 60 source with a dose rate of 10.9 rad min −1 to a total dose of 100 krad. The TMR of the branch was monitored in situ, and the easy axis TMR loop and low-frequency noise characteristics of a single MTJ were acquired before and after irradiation with the total dose. It was concluded that radiation did not influence the MTJs in any noticeable way in terms of the TMR ratio, coercivity, magnetostatic coupling or low-frequency noise