Absence of tunnel magnetoresistance in Sr2FeMoO6-based magnetic tunnel junctions

Strontium Ferromolybdate-Based Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

Thin-film strontium ferromolybdate is a promising material for applications in room-temperature magnetic tunnel junction devices. These are spin-based, low-power-consuming alternatives to CMOS in non-volatile memories, comparators, analog-to-digital converters, and magnetic sensors. In this work, we consider the main tasks to be solved when creating such devices based on strontium ferromolybdate: (i) selecting an appropriate tunnel barrier material, (ii) determining the role of the interface roughness and its quantification, (iii) determining the influence of the interface dead layer, (iv) establishing appropriate models of the tunnel magnetoresistance, and (v) promoting the low-field magnetoresistance in (111)-oriented thin films. We demonstrate that (i) barrier materials with a lower effective electronegativity than strontium ferromolybdate are beneficial, (ii) diminution of the magnetic offset field (the latter caused by magnetic coupling) requires a wavy surface rather than solely a surface with small roughness, (iii) the interface dead-layer thickness is of the order of 10 nm, (iv) the tunnel magnetoresistance deteriorates due to spin-independent tunneling and magnetically disordered interface layers, and (v) antiphase boundaries along the growth direction promote the negative low-field magnetoresistance by reducing charge carrier scattering in the absence of the field.

Ab initio study of the electronic and magnetic properties of Sr(2-x)La(x)Fe(1+y/2)Mo(1-y/2)O6 double perovskites

Using the first-principles full potential linearized augmented plane wave method, the electronic structure of Sr(2-x)La(x)Fe(1+y/2)Mo(1-y/2)O6 (SLFMO) double-perovskite systems is investigated for x = 1/2 and 1 and for y = +1 and -1. Substituting Sr atoms by La atoms allows one to tune the electrons added into the minority spin band and enhances the half-metal feature--according to the rigid band shift model--even if the magnetization decreases with increasing La concentration. By taking into account the chemical disorder on the Fe and Mo sites, resulting from the introduction of La as shown experimentally, it is shown (i) that a supplemental magnetization reduction occurs because the magnetic moment on the Fe antisite is opposite to the one on the Fe regular sites and (ii) that the half-metal feature is preserved in SLFMO for x = 1/2 and 1 contrary to the case for SFMO. Finally, because surface or interface Fe deficiency should have a more limited impact on the spin polarization than for SFMO, SLFMO/SrTiO3 multilayers are investigated in order to confirm this prediction by determining the spin polarization at the interface, which is found to remain high.

How to obtain a magnetic hard-soft architecture by pulsed laser deposition

In spin valve type systems, one ferromagnetic electrode must be magnetically hard to act as a reference layer while the other electrode must be magnetically soft to act as a sensor or storage layer. This magnetic hard-soft architecture can usually be obtained by four different methods: the use of two ferromagnets with different coercive fields (here CoFe(2) and Ni(80)Fe(20)), the use of an underlayer enhancing the coercive field of one of the two ferromagnets (here Ta and Ru), the use of a ferromagnet coupled to a ferrimagnet or antiferromagnet (here NiO/CoFe(2) and CoFe(2)O(4)/CoFe(2)), or the use of an artificial antiferromagnet (here CoFe(2)/Ru/CoFe(2)). We show that at least the first and the third methods seem to work with pulsed laser deposition in the thermodynamic conditions used.