Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userElectron transport in magnetic tunnel junctions -- a theoretical study of lattice and continuum models
66
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Magnetic tunnel junctions comprising of an insulator sandwiched between two ferromagnetic films are the simplest spintronic devices. Theoretically, these can be modeled by a metallic Hamiltonian in both the lattice and the continuum with an addition of Zeeman field. We calculate conductance at arbitrary orientations of the easy axes of the two ferromagnets. When mapped, the lattice and the continuum models show a discrepancy in conductance in the limit of a large Zeeman field. We resolve the discrepancy by modeling the continuum theory in an appropriate way.
rate research
Read More
We calculate the conductance through double junctions of the type M(inf.)-Sn-Mm-Sn-M(inf.) and triple junctions of the type M(inf.)-Sn-Mm-Sn-Mm-Sn-M(inf.), where M(inf.) are semi-infinite metallic electrodes, Sn are n layers of semiconductor and Mm are m layers of metal (the same as the electrodes), and compare the results with the conductance through simple junctions of the type M(inf.)-Sn-M(inf.). The junctions are bi-dimensional and their parts (electrodes and active region) are periodic in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction. To calculate the conductance we use the Greens Functions Landauer-B$ddot{u}$ttiker formalism. The electronic structure of the junction is modeled by a tight binding Hamiltonian. For a simple junction we find that the conductance decays exponentially with semiconductor thickness. For double and triple junctions, the conductance oscillates with the metal in-between thickness, and presents peaks for which the conductance is enhanced by 1-4 orders of magnitude. We find that when there is a conductance peak, the conductance is higher to that corresponding to a simple junction. The maximum ratio between the conductance of a double junction and the conductance of a simple junction is 146 %, while for a triple junction it is 323 %. These oscillations in the conductance are explained in terms of the energy spectrum of the junctions active region.
In this paper, a theoretical approach, comprising the non-equilibrium Greens function method for electronic transport and Landau-Khalatnikov equation for electric polarization dynamics, is presented to describe polarization-dependent tunneling electroresistance (TER) in ferroelectric tunnel junctions. Using appropriate contact, interface, and ferroelectric parameters, measured current-voltage characteristic curves in both inorganic (Co/BaTiO$_{3}$/La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_{3}$) and organic (Au/PVDF/W) ferroelectric tunnel junctions can be well described by the proposed approach. Furthermore, under this theoretical framework, the controversy of opposite TER signs observed experimentally by different groups in Co/BaTiO$_{3}$/La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_{3}$ systems is addressed by considering the interface termination effects using the effective contact ratio, defined through the effective screening length and dielectric response at the metal/ferroelectric interfaces. Finally, our approach is extended to investigate the role of a CoO$_{x}$ buffer layer at the Co/BaTiO$_{3}$ interface in a ferroelectric tunnel memristor. It is shown that, to have a significant memristor behavior, not only the interface oxygen vacancies but also the CoO$_{x}$ layer thickness may vary with the applied bias.
Experiments have shown that the tunneling current in a Co/Al$_2$O$_3$ magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) is positively spin polarized, opposite to what is intuitively expected from standard tunneling theory which gives the spin polarization as exclusively dependent on the density of states (DOS) at $E_F$ of the Co layers. Here we report theoretical results that give a positive tunneling spin polarization and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) that is in good agreement with experiments. From density functional theory (DFT) calculations, an Al-rich interface MTJ with atomic-level disorder is shown to have a positively polarized DOS near the interface. We also provide an atomic model calculation which gives insights into the source of the positive polarization. A layer and spin dependent effective mass model, using values extracted from the DFT results, is then used to calculate the tunneling current, which shows positive spin polarization. Finally, we calculate the TMR from the tunneling spin polarization which shows good agreement with experiments.
Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) are basic building blocks for devices such as magnetic random access memories (MRAMs). The relevance for modern computation of non-volatile high-frequency memories makes ac-transport measurements of 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 of 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 at the two interfaces plays a crucial role.
We demonstrate a voltage-controlled exchange bias effect in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions that is related to the interfacial Fe(Co)Ox formed between the CoFeB electrodes and the MgO barrier. The unique combination of interfacial antiferromagnetism, giant tunneling magnetoresistance, and sharp switching of the perpendicularly-magnetized CoFeB allows sensitive detection of the exchange bias. It is found that the exchange bias field can be isothermally controlled by magnetic fields at low temperatures. More importantly, the exchange bias can also be effectively manipulated by the electric field applied to the MgO barrier due to the voltage-controlled antiferromagnetic anisotropy in this system.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
