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At least 631 records · Page 35

Polycrystalline current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance pseudo spin-valves using Co{sub 2}Mn(Ga{sub 0.25}Ge{sub 0.75}) Heusler alloy

We have studied the structure and magnetoresistive properties of polycrystalline current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance pseudo spin-valves (PSVs) with Co{sub 2}Mn(Ga{sub 0.25}Ge{sub 0.75}) (CMGG) ferromagnetic layers and a Ag spacer. With (110) textured CMGG thin films and (111) textured Ag spacer, the PSVs annealed at 350 °C with 2 nm CoFe buffer layers showed ΔRA of 3.7 mΩ μm{sup 2} and MR ratio of 12.2%, while the PSVs without the buffer layer showed ΔRA of only 1.3 mΩ μm{sup 2}. High angle angular dark field images showed that the drop of ΔRA by annealing was due to the deterioration of the multi-layer CMGG/Ag/CMGG structure. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy images further confirmed the interdiffusion between CMGG layer and the Ag layer outside the CMGG/Ag/CMGG trilayer. In addition, we discuss the difference in the magnetoresistive properties of polycrystalline and epitaxial PSVs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

〈001〉 textured polycrystalline current-perpendicular-to-plane pseudo spin-valves using Co{sub 2}Fe(Ga{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5}) Heusler alloy

The orientation dependence of current-perpendicular-to-plane giant-magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) was investigated by fabricating 〈001〉 textured polycrystalline pseudo spin valves (PSVs) with Co{sub 2}Fe(Ga{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5}) (CFGG) Heusler alloy ferromagnetic layers and a Ag spacer. The PSV with 10 nm CFGG annealed at 400 °C exhibited the resistance-change area product (ΔRA) of 5.8 mΩ (MR ratio of 16%), the largest value reported for polycrystalline CPP-(P)SVs. The 〈001〉 textured CFGG PSV outperforms the 〈011〉 textured CFGG PSV possibly due to the reduced lattice mismatch or improved band matching at the CFGG/Ag interface.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Note: Hollow cathode lamp with integral, high optical efficiency isolation valve: A modular vacuum ultraviolet source

The design and operating conditions of a hollow cathode discharge lamp for the generation of vacuum ultraviolet radiation, suitable for ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) application, are described in detail. The design is easily constructed, and modular, allowing it to be adapted to different experimental requirements. A thin isolation valve is built into one of the differential pumping stages, isolating the discharge section from the UHV section, both for vacuum safety and to allow lamp maintenance without venting the UHV chamber. The lamp has been used both for ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy of surfaces and as a “soft” photoionization source for gas-phase mass spectrometry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Ultra-thin L1{sub 0}-FePt for perpendicular anisotropy L1{sub 0}-FePt/Ag/[Co/Pd]{sub 30} pseudo spin valves

Perpendicular anisotropy L1{sub 0}-FePt/Ag/[Co/Pd]{sub 30} pseudo spin valves (PSVs) with ultra-thin L1{sub 0}-FePt alloy free layer possessing high anisotropy and thermal stability have been fabricated and studied. The thickness of the L1{sub 0}-FePt layer was varied between 2 and 4 nm. The PSV became increasingly decoupled with reduced L1{sub 0}-FePt thickness due to the larger difference between the coercivity of the L1{sub 0}-FePt and [Co/Pd]{sub 30} films. The PSV with an ultra-thin L1{sub 0}-FePt free layer of 2 nm displayed a high K{sub u} of 2.21 × 10{sup 7} ergs/cm{sup 3}, high thermal stability of 84 and a largest giant magnetoresistance of 0.54%.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Temperature driven transition from giant to tunneling magneto-resistance in Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/Alq{sub 3}/Co spin Valve: Role of Verwey transition of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}

We demonstrate interface energy level engineering, exploiting the modification in energy band structure across Verwey transition temperature (T{sub V}) of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}, in a Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}(111)/Alq{sub 3}/Co spin-valve (SV). I-V characteristics exhibit a transition in conduction mode from carrier injection to tunneling across T{sub V} of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} electrode. Both giant magneto-resistance (GMR) and tunneling MR (TMR) have been observed in a single SV, below and above T{sub V}, respectively. We have achieved room-temperature SV operation in our device. We believe that the tuning of charge gap at Fermi level across T{sub V} resulting in a corresponding tuning of conduction mode and a unique cross over from GMR to TMR.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Interfacial spectroscopic characterization of organic/ferromagnet hetero-junction of 3,4,9,10-perylene-teracarboxylic dianhydride-based organic spin valves

We report interfacial characterization of 3,4,9,10-perylene-teracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA)-based organic spin valves (OSV) dusted with a thin layer of partially oxidized alumina at the organic semiconductor (OSC)/ferromagnet (FM) interfaces. Up to 13.5% magnetoresistance is achieved at room temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal interfacial electronic interaction between PTCDA and FM while the application of a thin alumina layer at the PTCDA/FM interfaces prevents the electronic hybridization and effectively preserves the spin injection into the OSC spacer. This finding demonstrates the critical effect of interfacial structure on magnetotransport behavior in OSV.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Local magnetoresistance through Si and its bias voltage dependence in ferromagnet/MgO/silicon-on-insulator lateral spin valves

Local magnetoresistance (MR) through silicon (Si) and its bias voltage (V{sub bias}) (bias current (I{sub bias})) dependence in ferromagnet (FM)/MgO/silicon-on-insulator lateral spin valves are investigated. From the experimental measurements, we find that the local-MR through Si increases with increasing V{sub bias}. This anomalous increase of local-MR as a function of V{sub bias} can be understood by considering the standard drift-diffusion theory improved by taking into account the difference in the interface resistances and first order quantum effect between FM/MgO/Si (source) and Si/MgO/FM (drain) interfaces. The interface resistance dependence on experimentally obtained local-MR ratios also agrees with the improved standard spin diffusion theory. These results indicate that experimentally observed local-MR is certainly related to the spin signal through the Si bulk band.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Modelling current-induced magnetization switching in Heusler alloy Co{sub 2}FeAl-based spin-valve nanopillar

We investigated the current-induced magnetization switching in a Heusler alloy Co{sub 2}FeAl-based spin-valve nanopillar by using micromagnetic simulations. We demonstrated that the elimination of the intermediate state is originally resulted from the decease of effective magnetic anisotropy constant. The magnetization switching can be achieved at a small current density of 1.0 × 10{sup 4} A/cm{sup 2} by increasing the demagnetization factors of x and y axes. Based on our simulation, we found magnetic anisotropy and demagnetization energies have different contributions to the magnetization switching.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Thermal engineering of non-local resistance in lateral spin valves

We study the non-local spin transport in Permalloy/Cu lateral spin valves (LSVs) fabricated on thermally oxidized Si and MgO substrates. While these LSVs show the same magnitude of spin signals, significant substrate dependence of the baseline resistance was observed. The baseline resistance shows much weaker dependence on the inter-electrode distance than that of the spin transport observed in the Cu wires. A simple analysis of voltage-current characteristics in the baseline resistance indicates the observed result can be explained by a combination of the Peltier and Seebeck effects at the injector and detector junctions, suggesting the usage of high thermal conductivity substrate (or under-layer) is effective to reduce the baseline resistance.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Voltage polarity manipulation of the magnetoresistance sign in organic spin valve devices

The spin transport in organic spin valve (OSV) devices has been systematically investigated by inserting a low work function material Al between ferromagnetic electrode and organic layer. The resistance and current-voltage curve symmetry are dramatically altered as increasing Al thickness, indicating that an electron-unipolar OSV is obtained. Moreover, the magnetoresistance sign depends on the voltage polarity for certain Al thickness. We attribute this phenomenon to the Fermi and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbits energies of the two electrodes responding to the spin injection and detection, respectively. These findings provide a simple approach to control both the carrier type and the spin direction simultaneously.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Ferromagnetic-organic interfacial states and their role on low voltage current injection in tris-8-hydroxyquinloline (Alq{sub 3}) organic spin valves

Organic Spin Valves (OSVs) operate at small bias (<100 mV) when carrier injection should not occur due to injection barriers and in built potentials. We explore the consequences of hybrid-interface states between a ferromagnetic electrode and an organic semiconductor in OSV carrier injection. By temperature-dependent Dark Injection measurements, we observe hole trapping due to these filled states and measure a low thermal activation energy (∼100 meV) of the carrier density within OSVs. The small injection barrier is consistent with a significant interfacial potential, due to hybrid-interface state filling, overcoming the injection barrier due to the electrode work function—transport level mismatch.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Effects of disorder on spin injection and extraction for organic semiconductor spin-valves

A device model for tunnel injection and extraction of spin-polarized charge carriers between ferromagnetic contacts and organic semiconductors with disordered molecular states is presented. Transition rates for tunneling are calculated based on a transfer Hamiltonian. Transport in the bulk semiconductor is described by macroscopic device equations. Tunneling predominantly involves organic molecular levels near the metal Fermi energy, and therefore typically in the tail of the band that supports carrier transport in the semiconductor. Disorder-induced broadening of the relevant band plays a critical role for the injection and extraction of charge carriers and for the resulting magneto-resistance of an organic semiconductor spin valve.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Is spin transport through molecules really occurring in organic spin valves? A combined magnetoresistance and inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy study

Molecular and organic spintronics is an emerging research field which combines the versatility of chemistry with the non-volatility of spintronics. Organic materials have already proved their potential as tunnel barriers (TBs) or spacers in spintronics devices showing sizable spin valve like magnetoresistance effects. In the last years, a large effort has been focused on the optimization of these organic spintronics devices. Insertion of a thin inorganic tunnel barrier (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} or MgO) at the bottom ferromagnetic metal (FM)/organic interface seems to improve the spin transport efficiency. However, during the top FM electrode deposition, metal atoms are prone to diffuse through the organic layer and potentially short-circuit it. This may lead to the formation of a working but undesired FM/TB/FM magnetic tunnel junction where the organic plays no role. Indeed, establishing a protocol to demonstrate the effective spin dependent transport through the organic layer remains a key issue. Here, we focus on Co/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Alq{sub 3}/Co junctions and show that combining magnetoresistance and inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy measurements one can sort out working “organic” and short-circuited junctions fabricated on the same wafer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Laterally patterned spin-valve superlattice: Magnetometry and polarized neutron scattering study

The magnetization reversal of magnetic multilayers with spin-valve like characteristics, patterned into an array of parallel stripes, was structurally and magnetically analyzed, in detail, via x-ray scattering, magnetometry, and polarized neutron reflectivity. Each stripe contains a multiple repetition of the layer sequence [Fe/Cr/Co/Cr]. X-ray and neutron scattering maps of the patterned multilayer show rich details resulting from the superposition of Bragg peaks representing the lateral in-plane periodicity and the out-of-plane multilayer period. Detailed analysis of specular and off-specular polarized neutron intensity was used to ascertain the antiparallel alignment of the Co and Fe magnetization within the kink region of their combined hysteresis loop between the coercive fields of Fe and Co layers. This includes also an examination of domain formation and inter- as well as intra-stripe correlation effects upon magnetization reversal. Our combined study shows that the shape induced anisotropy via patterning is capable of overriding the four-fold crystal anisotropy but is unable to eliminate the ripple domain state of the Co layers, already present in the continuous multilayer.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

State diagram of an orthogonal spin transfer spin valve device

We present the switching characteristics of a spin-transfer device that incorporates a perpendicularly magnetized spin-polarizing layer with an in-plane magnetized free and fixed magnetic layer, known as an orthogonal spin transfer spin valve device. This device shows clear switching between parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) resistance states and the reverse transition (AP → P) for both current polarities. Further, hysteretic transitions are shown to occur into a state with a resistance intermediate between that of the P and AP states, again for both current polarities. These unusual spin-transfer switching characteristics can be explained within a simple macrospin model that incorporates thermal fluctuations and considers a spin-polarized current that is tilted with respect to the free layer's plane, due to the presence of the spin-transfer torque from the polarizing layer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Study of perpendicular anisotropy L1{sub 0}-FePt pseudo spin valves using a micromagnetic trilayer model

A trilayer micromagnetic model based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch equation of motion is utilized to study the properties of L1{sub 0}-FePt/TiN/L1{sub 0}-FePt pseudo spin valves (PSVs) in direct comparison with experiment. Theoretical studies give an insight on the crystallographic texture, magnetic properties, reversal behavior, interlayer coupling effects, and magneto-transport properties of the PSVs, in particular, with varying thickness of the top L1{sub 0}-FePt and TiN spacer. We show that morphological changes in the FePt layers, induced by varying the FePt layer thickness, lead to different hysteresis behaviors of the samples, caused by changes in the interlayer and intralayer exchange couplings. Such effects are important for the optimization of the PSVs due to the relationship between the magnetic properties, domain structures, and the magnetoresistance of the device.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Enhancement of current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance in Heusler-alloy based pseudo spin valves by using a CuZn spacer layer

Enhancement of magnetoresistance output was attained in current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) devices by using a bcc CuZn alloy for the spacer. Pseudo spin valves that consisted of the Co{sub 2}Fe(Ga{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5}) Heusler alloy for ferromagnetic layers and CuZn alloy with the composition of Cu{sub 52.4}Zn{sub 47.6} for a spacer showed the large change of the resistance-area products, ΔRA, up to 8 mΩ·μm{sup 2} for a low annealing temperature of 350 °C. The ΔRA value is one of the highest reported so far for the CPP-GMR devices for the low annealing temperature, which is essential for processing read heads for hard disk drives. We consider that the enhancement of ΔRA is produced from the spin-dependent resistance at the Co{sub 2}Fe(Ga{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5})/CuZn interfaces.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The effect of atomic structure on interface spin-polarization of half-metallic spin valves: Co{sub 2}MnSi/Ag epitaxial interfaces

Using density functional theory calculations motivated by aberration-corrected electron microscopy, we show how the atomic structure of a fully epitaxial Co{sub 2}MnSi/Ag interfaces controls the local spin-polarization. The calculations show clear difference in spin-polarization at Fermi level between the two main types: bulk-like terminated Co/Ag and Mn-Si/Ag interfaces. Co/Ag interface spin-polarization switches sign from positive to negative, while in the case of Mn-Si/Ag, it is still positive but reduced. Cross-sectional atomic structure analysis of Co{sub 2}MnSi/Ag interface, part of a spin-valve device, shows that the interface is determined by an additional layer of either Co or Mn. The presence of an additional Mn layer induces weak inverse spin-polarisation (−7%), while additional Co layer makes the interface region strongly inversely spin-polarized (−73%). In addition, we show that Ag diffusion from the spacer into the Co{sub 2}MnSi electrode does not have a significant effect on the overall Co{sub 2}MnSi /Ag performance.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗