Tunneling Magnetoresistance Effect Research Articles

Nearly perfect spin polarization of noncollinear antiferromagnets

Ferromagnets with high spin polarization are known to be valuable for spintronics—a research field that exploits the spin degree of freedom in information technologies. Recently, antiferromagnets have emerged as promising alternative materials for spintronics due to their stability against magnetic perturbations, absence of stray fields, and ultrafast dynamics. For antiferromagnets, however, the concept of spin polarization and its relevance to the measured electrical response are elusive due to nominally zero net magnetization. Here, we define an effective momentum-dependent spin polarization and reveal an unexpected property of many noncollinear antiferromagnets to exhibit nearly 100% spin polarization in a broad area of the Fermi surface. This property leads to the emergence of an extraordinary tunneling magnetoresistance (ETMR) effect in antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions (AFMTJs). As a representative example, we predict that a noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn3GaN exhibits nearly 100% spin-polarized states that can efficiently tunnel through low-decay-rate evanescent states of perovskite oxide SrTiO3 resulting in ETMR as large as 104%. Our results uncover hidden functionality of material systems with noncollinear spin textures and open new perspectives for spintronics.

First principles electron transport in magnetoelectric SrRuO3/BaTiO3/SrTiO3/SrRuO3interfaces.

Recently, all-oxide ferroelectric tunnel junctions, with single or composite potential barriers based on SrRuO3/BaTiO3/SrTiO3(SRO/BTO/STO) perovskites, have drawn a particular interest for high density low power applications, due to their highly tunable transport properties and device scaling down possibility to atomic size. Here, using first principles calculations and the NEGFs formalism, we explore the electronic structure and tunneling transport properties in magnetoelectric SRO/BTO/mSTO/SRO interfaces, (m= 0, 2, or 4 unit cells), considering both the RuO6octahedra tilts and magnetic SRO electrodes. Our main results may be summarized as follows: i) The band alignment schemes predict that polarization direction may determine both Schottky barrier or Ohmic contacts form(STO)=0, but only Schottky contacts form(STO)=2 and 4 junctions; ii) The tunnel electroresistance and tunnel magnetoresistance ratios are evaluated at 0 and 300 K; iii) The most magnetoelectric responsive interfaces are obtained for them(STO)=2 heterostructure, this system also showing co-existent giant tunnel electroresistance and tunnel magnetoresistance effects; iv) The interfacial magnetoelectric coupling is not strong enough to control the tunnel magnetoresistance by polarization switching, in spite of significant SRO ferromagnetism.

Metastable body-centered cubic CoMnFe alloy films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy for spintronics memory

ABSTRACT A body-centered cubic (bcc) FeCo(B) is a current standard magnetic material for perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJs) showing both large tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and high interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) when MgO is utilized as a barrier material of p-MTJs. Since the p-MTJ is a key device of current spintronics memory, i.e. spin-transfer-torque magnetoresistive random access memory (STT-MRAM), it attracts attention for further advance to explore new magnetic materials showing both large PMA as well as TMR. However, there have been no such materials other than FeCo(B)/MgO. Here, we report, for the first time, PMA in metastable bcc Co based alloy, i.e. bcc CoMnFe thin films which are known to exhibit large TMR effect when used for electrodes of MTJs with the MgO barrier. The largest intrinsic PMA’s were about 0.6 and 0.8 MJ/m3 in a few nm thick CoMnFe alloy film and multilayer film, respectively. Our ab-initio calculation suggested that PMA originates from tetragonal strain and the value exceeds 1 MJ/m3 with optimizing strain and alloys composition. The simulation of the thermal stability factor indicates that the magnetic properties obtained satisfy the requirement of the data retention performance of X-1X nm STT-MRAM. The large PMA and high TMR effect in bcc CoMnFe/MgO, which were rarely observed in materials other than FeCo(B)/MgO, indicate that bcc CoMnFe/MgO is one of the potential candidates of the materials for X - 1X nm STT-MRAM.

Monitoring of crack-induced electromagnetic vector field based on tunnel magnetoresistance effect

Electromagnetic radiation technology is widely used as a non-destructive, non-contact monitoring method, but the spatial information contained in it is ignored. A three-axis electromagnetic sensor was developed to monitor the electromagnetic radiation generated by the fracture of brittle rocks based on the tunnel magnetoresistance effect. The sensor has significant independence, anti-interference in three orthogonal directions, and exhibits high linearity. The monitored signals can be regarded as the components of the electromagnetic field vector in three directions. Based on the idea of vector synthesis, the peak index and peak matching index of the synthesized signal are extracted for the directional characterization and can be used to identify the direction of cracks.

Symmetry-controlled SrRuO3/SrTiO3/SrRuO3 magnetic tunnel junctions: spin polarization and its relevance to tunneling magnetoresistance

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), that consist of two ferromagnetic electrodes separated by an insulating barrier layer, have non-trivial fundamental properties associated with spin-dependent tunneling. Especially interesting are fully crystalline MTJs where spin-dependent tunneling is controlled by the symmetry group of wave vector. In this work, using first-principles quantum-transport calculations, we explore spin-dependent tunneling in fully crystalline SrRuO3/SrTiO3/SrRuO3(001) MTJs and predict tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) of nearly 3000%. We demonstrate that this giant TMR effect is driven by symmetry matching (mismatching) of the incoming and outcoming Bloch states in the SrRuO3(001) electrodes and evanescent states in the SrTiO3(001) barrier. We argue that under the conditions of symmetry-controlled transport, spin polarization, whatever definition is used, is not a relevant measure of spin-dependent tunneling. In the presence of diffuse scattering, however, e.g. due to localized states in the band gap of the tunnel barrier, symmetry matching is no longer valid and TMR in SrRuO3/SrTiO3/SrRuO3(001) MTJs is strongly reduced. Under these conditions, the spin polarization of the interface transmission function becomes a valid measure of TMR. These results provide an important insight into understanding and optimizing TMR in all-oxide MTJs.

An Adaptive Eccentricity Correction Method for Arrayed Single‐Axis TMR Current Sensors

Current sensors based on the tunneling magnetoresistive effect (TMR) are widely used for current measurement due to their high sensitivity, small size, and low power consumption. This paper proposes an effective error correction model to rectify the eccentricity of the transmission line, which can cause a significant measurement error in the ring‐array single‐axis TMR sensor. The model employs a convolutional neural network (CNN) to identify the relationship between the conductor eccentricity and the output of three sensors. The resulting correction factor is then fed back to eliminate the error associated with wire eccentricity. Concurrently, the Sparrow search algorithm (SSA) is employed to optimize the hyperparameters of the convolutional neural network (CNN) in order to enhance the model's performance. The experimental results demonstrate that the maximum error of the ring‐array single‐axis TMR current sensor, corrected by SSA‐CNN, is less than 0.42%, which markedly enhances the precision of the measurement. © 2024 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Conceptional proposal of a microwave-only quantum magnetic head by phase-induced tunneling magnetoresistance effects and of a 3-dimensional multilayer platter

Tunneling magnetoresistance effects result in a high-performance magnetic head, enabling a high magnetic domain density in a platter. This conventional method of using magnetic flux to read or write is close to the magnetic domain density limit. Herein, we propose a conceptional method for developing a magnetic head by controlling phase-induced tunneling magnetoresistance effects. The developed magnetic head can be read out in units of 1 qubit. However, because recording data per BEC qubit is difficult due to thermal fluctuations, we evaluated the robustness of the method and concluded that it is robust to bit flips. Our method does not use a magnetic field for reading or writing, further suggesting that one may use a microwave instead. This is a distinguishing feature, allowing further integration of the magnetic domain density in a platter.

Arbitrary Modulation of Average Dwell Time in Discrete-Time Markov Chains Based on Tunneling Magnetoresistance Effect

Arbitrary Modulation of Average Dwell Time in Discrete-Time Markov Chains Based on Tunneling Magnetoresistance Effect

Voltage-Driven Fluorine Motion for Novel Organic Spintronic Memristor.

Integrating tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect in memristors is a long-term aspiration because it allows to realize multifunctional devices, such as multi-state memory and tunable plasticity for synaptic function. However, the reported TMR in different multiferroic tunnel junctions is limited to 100%. This work demonstrates a giant TMR of -266% in La0.6Sr0.4MnO3(LSMO)/poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)/Co memristor with thin organic barrier. Different from the ferroelectricity-based memristors, this work discovers that the voltage-driven florine (F) motion in the junction generates a huge reversible resistivity change up to 106% with nanosecond (ns) timescale. Removing F from PVDF layer suppresses the dipole field in the tunneling barrier, thereby significantly enhances the TMR. Furthermore, the TMR can be tuned by different polarizing voltage due to the strong modification of spin-polarization at the LSMO/PVDF interface upon F doping. Combining of high TMR in the organic memristor paves the way to develop high-performance multifunctional devices for storage and neuromorphic applications.

Electrical detection of mobile skyrmions with 100% tunneling magnetoresistance in a racetrack-like device

Magnetic skyrmions are topological spin textures that are regarded as promising information carriers for next-generation spintronic memory and computing devices. For practical applications, their deterministic generation, manipulation, and efficient detection are the most critical aspects. Although the generation and manipulation of skyrmions have been extensively studied, efficient electrical detection of mobile skyrmions by using techniques that are compatible with modern magnetic memory technology, remains to be adequately addressed. Here, through integrating magnetic multilayers that host nanoscale skyrmions, together with the magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ), we demonstrate the electrical detection of skyrmions by using the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect with a TMR ratio that reaches over 100% at room temperature. By building prototype three-terminal racetrack-like devices, we further show the electrical detection of mobile skyrmions by recording the time-dependent TMR ratios. Along with many recent developments, our results could advance the development of skyrmionic memory and logic devices.

Tunneling magnetoresistance effect with controlled spin polarization based on Mn3ZnN

Due to their groundbreaking advantages, antiferromagnetics offer superior prospects for next-generation memory devices. However, detecting their Néel vector poses great challenges. Mn3ZnN, an antiperovskite antiferromagnetic, breaks TPτ and Uτ symmetries, exhibiting k -resolved spin polarization at the Fermi surface. It is ideal for generation of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect by electrodes, which hinges on electrode–barrier compatibility. Testing various insulators, we obtained 2000% TMR effects in Mn3ZnN/SrTiO3/Mn3ZnN. Additionally, the application of 2% biaxial stress increased the spin polarization to 35.24% in Mn3ZnN, hinting at the potential for higher TMR. These findings provide valuable insights for experimental and industrial developments in the field of spintronics.

First-principle study of CrO2-BNNT-CrO2 based MTJ device using EHTB model and its application in a MRAM circuit

In this work we investigated the performance of Single-Walled Boron Nitride Nanotube (SWBNNT) sandwiched between CrO2 based Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) structures with atomistic simulations. MTJ based device-level simulation was performed using the Extended Huckel based Tight Binding (EHTB) model. The SWBNNT as a dielectric layer and CrO2 as Ferromagnetic (FM) layers based Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) heterostructure was computed. The proposed MTJ device operates at the nano-Ampere (nA) range depicting its potential application in a low-powered nanoelectronics device. It also shows a promising Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. The practical circuit-level implementation of the proposed MTJ device in Magnetic Random-Access Memory (MRAM) was validated using LTspice. Hence, the calculated static power consumption and writing energy per bit was minimal for S1 and S2 based MRAM circuit. The perfect switching operation was depicted by the proposed MTJ device based MRAM.

Magnetic Switching Dynamics and Tunnel Magnetoresistance Effect Based on Spin-Splitting Noncollinear Antiferromagnet Mn3Pt

In comparison to ferromagnets, antiferromagnets are believed to have superior advantages for applications in next-generation magnetic storage devices, including fast spin dynamics, vanishing stray fields and robust against external magnetic field, etc. However, unlike ferromagnetic orders, which could be detected through tunneling magnetoresistance effect in magnetic tunnel junctions, the antiferromagnetic order (i.e., Néel vector) cannot be effectively detected by the similar mechanism due to the spin degeneracy of conventional antiferromagnets. Recently discovered spin-splitting noncollinear antiferromagnets, such as Mn3Pt with momentum-dependent spin polarization due to their special magnetic space group, make it possible to achieve remarkable tunneling magnetoresistance effects in noncollinear antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions. Through first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio can reach more than 800% in Mn3Pt/perovskite oxides/Mn3Pt antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions. We also reveal the switching dynamics of Mn3Pt thin film under magnetic fields using atomistic spin dynamic simulation. Our study provides a reliable method for detecting Néel vector of noncollinear antiferromagnets through the tunnel magnetoresistance effect and may pave its way for potential applications in antiferromagnetic memory devices.

Structural design of magnetostrictive sensing glove and its application for gesture recognition

PurposeGesture recognition plays an important role in many fields such as human–computer interaction, medical rehabilitation, virtual and augmented reality. Gesture recognition using wearable devices is a common and effective recognition method. This study aims to combine the inverse magnetostrictive effect and tunneling magnetoresistance effect and proposes a novel wearable sensing glove applied in the field of gesture recognition.Design/methodology/approachA magnetostrictive sensing glove with function of gesture recognition is proposed based on Fe-Ni alloy, tunneling magnetoresistive elements, Agilus30 base and square permanent magnets. The sensing glove consists of five sensing units to measure the bending angle of each finger joint. The optimal structure of the sensing units is determined through experimentation and simulation. The output voltage model of the sensing units is established, and the output characteristics of the sensing units are tested by the experimental platform. Fifteen gestures are selected for recognition, and the corresponding output voltages are collected to construct the data set and the data is processed using Back Propagation Neural Network.FindingsThe sensing units can detect the change in the bending angle of finger joints from 0 to 105 degrees and a maximum error of 4.69% between the experimental and theoretical values. The average recognition accuracy of Back Propagation Neural Network is 97.53% for 15 gestures.Research limitations/implicationsThe sensing glove can only recognize static gestures at present, and further research is still needed to recognize dynamic gestures.Practical implicationsA new approach to gesture recognition using wearable devices.Social implicationsThis study has a broad application prospect in the field of human–computer interaction.Originality/valueThe sensing glove can collect voltage signals under different gestures to realize the recognition of different gestures with good repeatability, which has a broad application prospect in the field of human–computer interaction.

Electrically Controlled All-Antiferromagnetic Tunnel Junctions on Silicon with Large Room-Temperature Magnetoresistance.

Antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials are a pathway to spintronic memory and computing devices with unprecedented speed, energy efficiency, and bit density. Realizing this potential requires AFM devices with simultaneous electrical writing and reading of information, which are also compatible with established silicon-based manufacturing. Recent experiments have shown tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) readout in epitaxial AFM tunnel junctions. However, these TMR structures are not grown using a silicon-compatible deposition process, and controlling their AFM order required external magnetic fields. Here are shown three-terminal AFM tunnel junctions based on the noncollinear antiferromagnet PtMn3, sputter-deposited on silicon. The devices simultaneously exhibit electrical switching using electric currents, and electrical readout by a large room-temperature TMR effect. First-principles calculations explain the TMR in terms of the momentum-resolved spin-dependent tunneling conduction in tunnel junctions with noncollinear AFM electrodes.

Temperature and bias voltage dependences of magnetic tunnel junction with FeAlSi electrode

We fabricated magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with FeAlSi free layers and investigated the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) properties. We found that the temperature and bias voltage dependences of the TMR effect in FeAlSi-MTJs were almost the same as MTJs with Fe free layers despite the low Curie temperature of FeAlSi. In the inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy measured at low temperatures, the relatively large cutoff energy of magnon excitation at the FeAlSi and MgO interface was confirmed. In addition, we studied for the first time the exchange stiffness constant of FeAlSi films by Brillouin light scattering. The determined value of the stiffness constant of FeAlSi was 14.3 (pJ/m), which was similar to that of Fe. Both the large magnon cutoff at the interface and the stiffness constant of FeAlSi are considered to be the reason for the good temperature and voltage dependences of FeAlSi-MTJs.

Magnetic-ferroelectric synergic control of multilevel conducting states in van der Waals multiferroic tunnel junctions towards in-memory computing.

van der Waals (vdW) multiferroic tunnel junctions (MFTJs) based on two-dimensional materials have gained significant interest due to their potential applications in next-generation data storage and in-memory computing devices. In this study, we construct vdW MFTJs by employing monolayer Mn2Se3 as the spin-filter tunnel barrier, TiTe2 as the electrodes and In2S3 as the tunnel barrier to investigate the spin transport properties based on first-principles quantum transport calculations. It is highlighted that apparent tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and tunneling electroresistance (TER) effects with a maximum TMR ratio of 6237% and TER ratio of 1771% can be realized by using bilayer In2S3 as the tunnel barrier under finite bias. Furthermore, the physical origin of the distinguished TMR and TER effects is unraveled from the k||-resolved transmission spectra and spin-dependent projected local density of states analysis. Interestingly, four distinguishable conductance states reveal the implementation of four-state nonvolatile data storage using one MFTJ unit. More importantly, in-memory logic computing and multilevel data storage can be achieved at the same time by magnetic switching and electrical control, respectively. These results shed light on vdW MFTJs in the applications of in-memory computing as well as multilevel data storage devices.

Designing van der Waals magnetic tunnel junctions with high tunnel magnetoresistance via Brillouin zone filtering.

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) consisting of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals heterostructures have no inter-layer chemical bonds; therefore, their spin tunneling is determined solely by the Brillouin zone (BZ) filtering effect. To obtain high tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR), they should possess transversal momentum-resolved conduction channels for the electrodes and transmission channels for the barriers. Here, we investigate 2D magnets as electrodes whose Curie temperatures approach room temperature and also hexagonal 2D insulators as the barrier. Iron-based compounds such as FexGeTe2 (x = 3 and 4) are calculated to have high transmission coefficients over the entire in-plane BZ for the majority spin channel, while this should only happen around Γ for the minority spin channel. Correspondingly, various 2H-type transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are found to function effectively as spin barriers, where electrons are only allowed to tunnel through them around the K and M points. BZ spin filtering is confirmed to be the major mechanism of the TMR effect by the MTJ transport calculation using the non-equilibrium Green function method. Furthermore, the TMR is calculated to be nearly independent of the barrier layer thickness as the BZ filtering is an interfacial effect. This work sheds light on material selection procedures and designing ultra-thin and robust van der Waals MTJs.

Magnetic field observation in a magnetic tunnel junction by scanning transmission electron microscopy.

A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) consists of two ferromagnetic layers separated by a thin insulating layer. MTJs show tunnel magnetoresistance effect, where the resistance in the direction perpendicular to the insulator layer drastically changes depending on the magnetization directions (parallel or antiparallel) in the ferromagnetic layers. However, direct observation of local magnetizations inside MTJs has been challenging. In this study, we demonstrate direct observation of magnetic flux density distribution inside epitaxially grown Fe/MgO/Fe layers using differential phase contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy. By utilizing newly developed tilt-scan averaging system for suppressing diffraction contrasts, we clearly visualize parallel and antiparallel states of ferromagnetic layers at nanometer resolution.

Giant tunnel magnetoresistance induced by thermal bias

We analyze the spin-resolved transport and, in particular, the tunnel magnetoresistance of an asymmetric ferromagnetic tunnel junction with an embedded quantum dot or molecule subject to thermal and voltage bias in the nonlinear response regime. We demonstrate that such system exhibits a giant tunnel magnetoresistance effect that can be tuned by gate and bias voltages. Large values of magnetoresistance are associated with the interplay between the Kondo correlations and the ferromagnetic-contact-induced exchange field. In particular, we show that the nonequilibrium current in the parallel and antiparallel magnetic configuration of the system changes sign at different values of the voltage and thermal bias. This gives rise to giant values of magnetoresistance, the sign of which can be controlled by the applied sources.