Low voltage tunneling magnetoresistance in CuCrO2-based semiconductor heterojunctions at room temperature

Abstract

CuCrO2-based heterojunction diodes with rectifying characteristics have been fabricated by combining p-type Mg-doped CuCrO2 and n-type Al-doped ZnO. It was found that the current for the heterojunction in low bias voltage region is dominated by the trap-assisted tunneling mechanism. Positive magnetoresistance (MR) effect for the heterojunction can be observed at room temperature due to the tunneling-induced antiparallel spin polarization near the heterostructure interface. The MR effect becomes enhanced with the magnetic field, and shows the maximum at a bias voltage around 0.5 V. The phenomena indicate that the CuCrO2-based heterojunction is a promising candidate for low-power semiconductor spintronic devices.