Barrier-dependent electronic transport properties in two-dimensional MnBi2Te4-based van der Waals magnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

Tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and spin filtering effects in the magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) have drawn much attention for potential spintronic applications based on magnetic manipulation of electric transport. However, the traditional MTJs cannot meet the demand for rapid miniaturization of electronic components. Thus, van der Waals (vdW) MTJs with a few atomic layers stacked vertically are ideal candidates for atomic scale devices. In this work, by employing the non-equilibrium Green's function combined with density-functional theory, we systemically study the spin-dependent electronic transport properties across MnBi2Te4 (MBT)-based vdW MTJs with three typical barrier layers, i.e., monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), monolayer graphene, and vacuum. By using graphite as the electrode of these junctions, we find that a high TMR ratio up to 4000% and almost 100% spin filtering ratio are realized in MBT|h-BN|MBT MTJ at low bias voltages. Moreover, a remarkable negative differential resistance effect is observed in MBT|h-BN|MBT and MBT|Graphene|MBT junctions. The observed barrier-dependent quantum transport phenomenon is explained by the transmission coefficient. Our unique design of these vdW structures reasonably overcomes the bottleneck of current leakage and avoids the interface contact issues and paves the way for the exploration of spintronics devices with better performance.