Spin dependent transport: GMR & TMR

Abstract

The discovery of giant magnetoresistance in 1988 opened the large research field of ‘spintronics’. Twenty years later, a large number of devices makes use of the electron's spin, in addition to its charge, to control electronic transport properties. The physical origin of spintronic phenomena is the different conduction properties of the majority and minority spin electrons in a ferromagnetic metal. At an interface involving a ferromagnetic conductor, this leads to spin dependent conduction or tunneling properties. Here we present an overview of magnetotransport phenomena in structures involving metallic layers. To cite this article: A. Schuhl, D. Lacour, C. R. Physique 6 (2005).