Tunneling Magnetoresistance Values Research Articles

A reliable non‐volatile in‐memory computing associative memory based on spintronic neurons and synapses

AbstractThis article introduces an innovative non‐volatile associative memory (AM) that leverages spintronic synapses, employing magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) in conjunction with neurons constructed using carbon nanotube field‐effect transistors (CNTFETs). Our proposed design represents a significant advancement in area optimization and outperforms prior designs. We adopt MTJ‐based spintronic devices due to their remarkable attributes, including dependable reconfigurability and nonvolatility. Simultaneously, CNTFETs effectively address the longstanding limitations traditionally associated with MOSFETs. In this work, our proposed design undergoes rigorous simulations that account for process variations. The results demonstrate that our AM system closely approximates its ideal mathematical model, even with significant process variations. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR) on the performance of our proposed AM system. Our investigations reveal that, even with a TMR as low as 100%, our design matches and often surpasses the performance of its counterparts operating with a TMR of 300%. This achievement holds profound significance from a fabrication standpoint, as fabricating MTJs with high TMR values can be intricate and costly. Overall, our novel AM system represents a significant breakthrough in emerging technologies, harnessing the unique strengths of spintronic synapses and advanced carbon nanotube transistors while robustly addressing challenges in performance and variability.

Density functional study of electrode material for magnetic tunnel junction designed using Co2TiZ (Z = Ge, Si) Heusler alloys

Some of the important applications in the field of spintronics are spin current driven logic devices having logic gates and in read heads in the hard disk drives, magnetic random access memory (MRAM) containing non-volatile memory units and extremely complex magnetic sensor. In spintronic applications, a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is considered the back bone of all such devices. With this motivation, in present study we have predicted very low resistance area (RA) product value and high tunnel magneto resistance (TMR) of two designed MTJs by using full Heusler alloys (FHA) Co2TiZ (Z = Ge, Si) as electrode and MgO as barrier layer. These used half metallic (HM) Heusler alloys (HA), have been investigated using Wien2K code, via primary standard calculations and studied electronic and magnetic properties followed by structural and magnetic phase stability. Spin based band structure along with density of state (DOS) profiles are determined by considering both generalized gradient approximation (GGA) + modified Becke–Johnson functional (mBJ) functional and GGA potentials. For the estimation of the Curie temperature (Tc) mean field approximation (MFA) was considered. After determining physical properties of considered FHAs, spin polarised transport properties are calculated by using PWCOND code embedded in Quantum ESPRESSO (QE) for designed MTJs and obtained extremely low resistance-area product (RA) product and a high value of TMR which is found very suitable for spintronic device applications.

A high‐capacity and nonvolatile spintronic associative memory hardware accelerator

AbstractSignificant progress has been made in manufacturing emerging technologies in recent years. This progress implemented in‐memory‐computing and neural networks, one of today's hottest research topics. Over time, the need to process complex tasks has increased. This need causes the emergence of intelligent processors. A nonvolatile associative memory based on spintronic synapses utilising magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and carbon nanotube field‐effect transistors (CNTFET)‐based neurons is proposed. The proposed design uses the MTJ device because of its fascinating features, such as reliable reconfiguration and nonvolatility. At the same time, CNTFET has overcome conventional complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor shortcomings like the short channel effect, drain‐induced barrier lowering, and poor hole mobility. The proposed design is simulated in the presence of process variations. The proposed design aims to increase the number of weights generated in the synapse for higher memory capacity and accuracy. The effect of different tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) values (100%, 200%, and 300%) on the performance and accuracy of the proposed design has also been investigated. This investigation shows that the proposed design performs well even with a low TMR value, which is very important and remarkable from the fabrication point of view.

Electric field tunable multi-state tunnel magnetoresistances in 2D van der Waals magnetic heterojunctions

Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) based on van der Waals (vdW) magnetic layers has been found to present excellent tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) property, which has great potential applications in field sensing, nonvolatile magnetic random access memories, and spin logics. Although MTJs composed of multilayer vdW magnetic homojunction have been extensively investigated, the ones composed of vdW magnetic heterojunction are still to be explored. Here, we use first-principles approaches to reveal that the magnetic heterojunction MTJs have much more distinguishable TMR values than the homojunction ones. In the MTJ composed of bilayer CrI3/bilayer Cr2Ge2Te6 heterojunction, we find there are eight stable magnetic states, leading to six distinguishable electronic resistances. As a result, five sizable TMRs larger than 300% can be obtained (the maximum TMR is up to 620 000%). Six distinguishable memories are obtained, which is two times larger than that of a four-layered homojunction MTJ. The underlying relationships among magnetic state, spin-polarized band structures, and transmission spectra are further revealed to explain the multiple TMR values. We also find that the magnetic states, and thus TMRs, can be efficiently modulated by an external electric field. This study opens an avenue to the design of high-performance MTJ devices based on vdW heterojunctions.

Electron conduction mechanisms in magnetic tunnel junctions fabricated using amorphous Si-Zn-Sn-O as a low-resistive semiconducting barrier

CoFeB/ Si-Zn-Sn-O /CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) have been fabricated using amorphous Si-Zn-Sn-O as a low-resistive semiconducting barrier. In the low bias voltage range (up to ∼0.2 V), direct tunneling is found to be the dominant transport mechanism in MTJs. Tunneling conduction is further verified by simulation of tunnel current density and differential conductance using Simmon’s and Brinkmann model, respectively. Simulated results provided valuable insights into the barrier properties, including interfacial barrier height, thickness, and barrier asymmetry. Above the direct tunneling regime, electron transport in MTJs is governed by Pool Frenkel emission, which possibly arises due to the presence of high-density localized tail states below the conduction band of amorphous Si-Zn-Sn-O. Tunnelling magnetoresistance value of MTJs is found to be very low, which is attributed to the presence of various inelastic conduction channels. The results of this study might be useful to explore the potential of amorphous Si-Zn-Sn-O for fabricating low-resistive MTJ based spintronic devices.

Large magnetoresistance and spin-polarized photocurrent in Mn2.25Co0.75Ga0.5Sn0.5/MgO/Mn2.25Co0.75Ga0.5Sn0.5 magnetic tunnel junctions

With the development of information storage devices with high density, low power consumption and multi-means regulation, magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with completely spin polarized materials as electrodes have attracted much attention. Heusler alloy Mn2.25Co0.75Ga0.5Sn0.5(MCGS) is a recently fabricated spin gapless semiconductor with 100 % spin polarization and high Curie temperature of 725 K. Here, the spin-dependent electronic transport and photoelectric properties of MCGS/MgO/MCGS MTJs are investigated systematically by density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function method. It is found that the MCGS/MgO/MCGS MTJs with four different terminations all present high tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and the maximum TMR is up to 6.51 × 106 %. The TMR value can be reduced and switched between positive and negative values by applying bias voltage, which can be used to designed magnetic logic devices. Furthermore, perfect spin injection efficiency can be obtained in the MCGS/MgO/MCGS MTJs and the switch of the spin channel can be controlled by the magnetization configuration of the ferromagnetic electrodes. Moreover, nearly 100 % spin-polarized photocurrent can be obtained by tailoring the polarization angle and photon energy of polarized light. The linearly polarized light is more favorable than circularly polarized light to generate high spin-polarized photocurrent. These results provide a theoretical guidance for designing the spin and optical tunable spintronic devices.

Tunneling magnetoresistance and spin-valley polarization of aperiodic magnetic silicene superlattices

Magnetic silicene superlattices (MSSLs) are versatile structures with spin-valley polarization and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) capabilities. However, the oscillating transport properties related to the superlattice periodicity impede stable spin-valley polarization states reachable by reversing the magnetization direction. Here, we show that aperiodicity can be used to improve the spin-valley polarization and TMR by reducing the characteristic conductance oscillations of periodic MSSLs (P-MSSLs). Using the Landauer–Büttiker formalism and the transfer matrix method, we investigate the spin-valley polarization and the TMR of Fibonacci (F-) and Thue–Morse (TM-) MSSLs as typical aperiodic superlattices. Our findings indicate that aperiodic superlattices with higher disorder provide better spin-valley polarization and TMR values. In particular, TM-MSSLs reduce considerably the conductance oscillations giving rise to two well-defined spin-valley polarization states and a better TMR than F- and P-MSSLs. F-MSSLs also improve the spin-valley polarization and TMR, however they depend strongly on the parity of the superlattice generation.

Measurement of T wave in magnetocardiography using tunnel magnetoresistance sensor

Several critical clinical applications of magnetocardiography (MCG) involve its T wave. The T wave’s accuracy directly affects the diagnostic accuracy of MCG for ischemic heart disease and arrhythmogenic. Tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) attracts attention as a new MCG measurement technique. However, the T waves measured by TMR are often drowned in noise. The accuracy of T waves needs to be discussed to determine the clinical value of MCG measured by TMR. This study uses an improved empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm and averaging to eliminate the noise in the MCG measured by TMR. The MCG signals measured by TMR are compared with MCG measured by the optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) to judge its accuracy. Using the MCG measured by OPM as a reference, the relative errors in time and amplitude of the T wave measured by TMR are 3.4% and 1.8%, respectively. This is the first demonstration that TMR can accurately measure the time and amplitude of MCG T waves. The ability to provide reliable T wave data illustrates the significant clinical application value of TMR in MCG measurement.

Excellent spin-filtering and giant tunneling magnetoresistance in a dual-electrode van der Waals magnetic tunnel junction based on ferromagnetic CrSe2

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) both with efficient spin-filtering effect and large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio are extremely attractive and highly desirable in the field of spintronics. Inspired by recent successful preparation of a stable two-dimensional (2D) layered ferromagnet 1T-CrSe2 on a 2H-WSe2 substrate via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis, herein, employing first-principles calculations, we investigate the spin-dependent transport properties of van der Waals (vdW) MTJs built with a monolayer 2H-WSe2 tunnel barrier and a 1T-CrSe2 single-electrode or a 1T-MoSe2/1T-CrSe2 dual-electrode. Compared to low TMR (67.3%) in single-electrode MTJ, dual-electrode MTJ exhibits excellent spin-filtering effect (with 99.96% spin polarization) and a giant TMR ratio (up to 2.29 × 105%), which mainly originates from the half-metallicity of CrSe2 induced by charge transfer at MoSe2/CrSe2 interface. Relatively high TMR values (over 1 × 103%) are always maintained at small bias voltages (|Vb| ≤ 0.35 V). Our work have for the first time theoretically verified feasibility of realizing the transition of 2D CrSe2 from metallicity to half-metallicity in the vdW MTJ and yielding excellent spin-filtering and giant magnetoresistance via electrode interface engineering, thereby providing important theoretical guidance for the experimental design of high-performance vdW MTJs in spintronic devices.

Enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance and spin filtering in perovskite magnetic tunnel junctions via oxygen octahedral tilting

Oxygen octahedral tilting significantly reduces the symmetry of perovskites and changes the transport properties of perovskite magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). We investigated ${\mathrm{SrRuO}}_{3}/{\mathrm{CaTiO}}_{3}/{\mathrm{SrRuO}}_{3}$ MTJs by first-principles simulation and predicted an intriguing coupling between oxygen octahedral tilting and tunneling magnetoresistance. We obtained higher spin polarization at the Fermi level for the ${\mathrm{SrRuO}}_{3}$ electrodes with tilted octahedra, which increases the tunneling magnetoresistance value. Transmission and complex band structure analysis shows that the majority spin tunneling current in the ${\mathrm{CaTiO}}_{3}$ barrier with tilted octahedra is suppressed by wave function symmetry filtering, thus producing a negative spin filtering with an efficiency close to \ensuremath{-}100% and further enhancing the TMR effect. Both phenomena disappear in the junction without oxygen octahedral tilting, hence they have resulted from lattice distortions. The effective control of the tunneling magnetoresistance via oxygen octahedral tilting could act as a way to improve the performances of perovskite spintronic devices.

Scaling Behavior of Magnetoresistance with the Layer Number in CrI3 Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) magnetic semiconductors have attracted wide interest for their promising application in next-generation spintronic devices. We investigate the scaling behavior of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of the $\mathrm{Ag}/$n-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}/\mathrm{Ag}$ and graphite/n-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}$/graphite magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) by using ab initio quantum-transport simulations. The calculated monotonic increasing TMR of the graphite/n-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}$/graphite MTJ with n = 2--4 at zero bias agrees with the experimental value. The TMR of the $\mathrm{Ag}/$n-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}/\mathrm{Ag}$ MTJ generally increases with the tunnel-barrier layer number, n, that is, from 200% (2-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}$) to a record ${10}^{9}$% value (12-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}$) at zero bias but has an odd-even oscillation when n 7. When we apply a bias voltage to the $\mathrm{Ag}/$2-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}/\mathrm{Ag}$ MTJ, the TMR first decreases slightly and then increases, followed by a monotonic decrease. The noncollinear magnetization direction of the ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}$ layers also changes the TMR value of the graphite/n-layer ${\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{I}}_{3}$/graphite MTJ relative to the collinear case, a result in agreement with experiments.

Ab Initio Study of Hexagonal Boron Nitride as the Tunnel Barrier in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions.

Two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is studied as a tunnel barrier in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) as a possible alternative to MgO. The tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of such MTJs is calculated as a function of whether the interface involves the chemi- or physisorptive site of h-BN atoms on the metal electrodes, Fe, Co, or Ni. It is found that the physisorptive site on average produces higher TMR values, whereas the chemisorptive site has the greater binding energy but lower TMR. It is found that alloying the electrodes with an inert metal-like Pt can induce the preferred absorption site on Co to become a physisorptive site, enabling a higher TMR value. It is found that the choice of physisorptive sites of each element gives more Schottky-like dependence of their Schottky barrier heights on the metal work function.

Magnetoresistive sensor detectivity: A comparative analysis

We report on the noise performance characteristics of magnetic sensors using both magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and giant magnetoresistance (GMR) elements. Each sensor studied has a notably different noise and detectivity. Of the sensors we measured, those based on GMR multilayers have the lowest noise and detectivity. However, the GMR sensor also has a significantly smaller linear range. To make a direct comparison between sensors, we scale the linear operating ranges of each sensor to be the same. This is the phenomenological equivalent of modifying the flux concentration. Upon scaling, the low frequency detectivity of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors becomes essentially equal to that of the GMR sensor. Using the scaling approach, we are able to place the detectivity in the context of other key parameters, namely, size and power consumption. Finally, we use this technique to examine the upper limit for magnetoresistive sensor performance based on a notional MTJ sensor using present record setting TMR values.

Impact of Fe80B20 insertion on the properties of dual-MgO perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

We explore the impact of Fe80B20 inserted at both Co20Fe60B20/MgO interfaces of dual-MgO free layers (FLs) in bottom-pinned magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). MTJ stacks are annealed for 30 min at 350 °C and 400 °C in a vacuum after film deposition. Current-in-plane tunneling measurements are carried out to characterize magnetotransport properties of the MTJs. Conventional magnetometry measurements and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) are conducted to estimate the saturation magnetization, the effective perpendicular anisotropy field and the Gilbert damping of dual-MgO FLs as a function of the Fe80B20 thickness and annealing temperatures. With ultrathin Fe80B20 (0.2–0.4 nm) inserted, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) of FLs increases with similar tunnel magneto-resistance (TMR) and low damping values. As Fe80B20 layer thickness further increases (0.6–1.2 nm), both TMR and PMA degrade, and damping increases dramatically. This study demonstrates a novel approach to tune properties of MTJ stacks with dual-MgO FLs up to 400 °C annealing, which enables MTJ stacks for various applications.

Multi-heterostructured spin-valve junction of vertical FLG/MoSe2/FLG

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials and their heterostructures have opened a new avenue for next-generation spintronic applications, benefited by their unique electronic properties and high crystallinity with an atomically flat surface. Here, we report magnetoresistance of vertical magnetic spin-valve devices with multi-layer (ML) MoSe2 and its heterostructures with few-layer graphene (FLG). We employed a micro-fabrication procedure to form ultraclean ferromagnetic–non-magnetic–ferromagnetic interfaces to elucidate the intrinsic spin-transferring mechanism through both an individual material and combinations of 2D layered materials. However, it is revealed that the polarity of tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) is independent of non-magnetic spacers whether the spin valve is composed of a single material or a hybrid structure, but it strongly depends on the interfaces between ferromagnetics (FMs) and 2D materials. We observed positive spin polarizations in ML-MoSe2 and FLG/ML-MoSe2/FLG tunnel junctions, whereas spin-valve devices comprised of FLG/ML-MoSe2 showed a reversed spin polarization and demonstrated a negative TMR. Importantly, in Co/FLG/ML-MoSe2/FLG/NiFe devices, the polarization of spin carriers in the FM/FLG interface remained conserved during tunneling through MoSe2 flakes in spin-transferring events, which is understandable by Julliere’s model. In addition, large TMR values are investigated at low temperatures, whereas at high temperatures, the TMR ratios are deteriorated. Furthermore, the large values of driving ac-current also quenched the amplitude of TMR signals. Therefore, our observations suggest that the microscopic spin-transferring mechanism between ferromagnetic metals and 2D materials played a momentous role in spin-transferring phenomena in vertical magnetic spin-valve junctions.

Detection of Majorana Bound States by Sign Change of the Tunnel Magnetoresistance in a Quantum Dot Coupled to Ferromagnetic Electrodes

We study quantum transport and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) through an interacting quantum dot (QD) attached to ferromagnetic electrodes in the Coulomb blockade regime. The QD is also side-coupled to a superconductor nanowire hosting Majarana bound states (MBSs). It is found that when the electrodes’ magnetic moments are arranged in antiparallel, the current’s intensity will be enhanced to be larger than that of the parallel configuration by the hybridization between the QD and the MBSs. This change in the current induces anomalous negative TMR unique to the existence of MBSs, providing an efficient detection way of the MBSs. The negative TMR is weakened by the overlap between the two bound states but obviously enhanced by the left-right asymmetry between the QD and the electrodes. We also find that the TMR value changes non-monotonously with the spin polarization of the electrodes. Our results may find real use in energy saving spintronic devices and quantum information processing.

Visualization of tunnel magnetoresistance effect in single manganite nanowires**Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFA0300702), Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation, China (Grant Nos. 19ZR1402800, 18JC1411400, 18ZR1403200, and 17ZR1442600), the Program of Shanghai Academic Research Leader, China (Grant Nos. 18XD1400600 and 17XD1400400), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2016M601488 and 2017T100265).

We reported a study of tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect in single manganite nanowire via the combination of magnetotransport and magnetic force microscopy imaging. TMR value up to 290% has been observed in single (La1 − yPry)1 − xCaxMnO3 nanowires with varying width. We find that the TMR effect can be explained in the scenario of opening and blockade of conducting channels from inherent magnetic domain evolutions. Our findings provide a new route to fabricate TMR junctions and point towards future improvements in complex oxide-based TMR spintronics.

Extremely Large Non-equilibrium Tunnel Magnetoresistance Ratio in CoRhMnGe Based Magnetic Tunnel Junction by Interface Modification.

Equiatomic quaternary Heusler compounds (EQHCs) generally have the advantages of high Curie temperature, large spin polarization and long spin diffusion length, and they are regarded as one of the most promising candidates for spintronics devices. Herein, we report a theoretical investigation on an EQHC CoRhMnGe based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with (i) MnGe-terminated interface and (ii) modified pure Mn terminated interface, i.e., MnMn-terminated interface. By employing first principle calculations combined with non-equilibrium Green's function, the local density of states (LDOS), transmission coefficient, spin-polarized current, tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio and spin injection efficiency (SIE) as a function of bias voltage are studied. It reveals that when the MTJ under equilibrium state, TMR ratio of MnGe-terminated structure is as high as 3,438%. When the MTJ is modified to MnMn-terminated interface, TMR ratio at equilibrium is enhanced to 2 × 105%, and spin filtering effects are also strengthened. When bias voltage is applied to the MTJ, the TMR ratio of the MnGe-terminated structure suffers a dramatic loss. While the modified MnMn-terminated structure could preserve a large TMR value of 1 × 105%, even bias voltage rises up to 0.1 V, showing a robust bias endurance. These excellent spin transport properties make the CoRhMnGe a promising candidate material for spintronics devices.

Anisotropic magnetoconductance and Coulomb blockade in defect engineered Cr2Ge2Te6 van der Waals heterostructures

We demonstrate anisotropic tunnel magnetoconductance by controllably engineering charging islands in the layered semiconducting ferromagnet ${\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{6}$. This is achieved by assembling vertical van der Waals heterostructures comprised of graphene electrodes separated by crystals of ${\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{6}$. Carefully applying vertical electric fields in the region of $(E\ensuremath{\sim}25$--50 mV/nm) across the ${\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{6}$ causes its dielectric breakdown at cryogenic temperatures. This breakdown process has the effect of introducing subgap defect states within the otherwise semiconducting ferromagnetic material. Low-temperature electron transport through charging islands reveals Coulomb blockade behavior with a strongly gate-tuneable anisotropic magnetoconductance, which persists up to $T\ensuremath{\sim}60$ K. We report average tunnel magnetoresistance values of $100%$. This work opens new avenues and material systems for the development of nanometer-scale electrically controlled spintronic devices.

First-principles study on the structure, magnetism, and electronic properties in inverse Heusler alloy Ti2FeAl/GaAs(100) heterojunction

Abstract The interface structure stability, atomic displacement, atom-resolved magnetism, electronic properties, and spin polarization of 12 possible atomic terminations in Ti2FeAl/GaAs(100) heterojunction are comprehensively investigated by implementing the first-principles calculations. All of the lowest-energy interface structures are theoretically favorable to stability from interface formation energy examinations. The interface Fe atoms will shrink inwards, whereas the interface Ti atom will be moved outwards inversely. Therefore, an uneven interface atomic layer is observed in the heterojunction, which can lead to further spin-electronic scattering and reduction of the spin polarization. The competition among antiferromagnetic coupling between Fe and Ti atoms, d-electronic localization, and the relaxing effect of the interface metal atoms plays an important role in the atomic magnetic moment at the interface. The ideal half-metallicity observed in bulk has been destroyed by the undesirable interface states. In the TiAl-Ti-Ga-Top interface structure, the spin-polarization ratio reaches 77.2%, which suggests that the tunnel magnetoresistance value can be close to 300% at low temperature. The TiAl-Ti-Ga-Top interface structure with Ti-Ga atoms top-connected termination is a promising candidate for applications in magnetic tunnel junction devices.