Manipulable GMR Effect in a δ-Doped Magnetically Confined Semiconductor Heterostructure

Abstract

A giant magnetoresistance (GMR) device formed by depositing two parallel nanosized ferromagnetic strips on top of a semiconductor heterostructure has been proposed theoretically (Zhai et al. in Phys Rev B 66:125305, 2002). For the sake of manipulating its performance, we introduce a tunable δ-potential into this device with the help of atomic-layer doping techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition. We investigate theoretically the impact of such δ-doping on the magnetoresistance ratio (MR) of the GMR device. We find that, although the δ-doping is embedded in the device, a considerable GMR effect still exists due to the significant difference in electronic transmission between parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) configurations. Moreover, the calculated results show that the MR of the GMR device varies sensitively with the weight and/or position of the δ-doping. Thus, the GMR device can be controlled by changing the δ-doping to obtain an adjustable GMR device for magnetoelectronics applications.