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Zhu W, Zhu Y, Zhou T, Zhang X, Lin H, Cui Q, Yan F, Wang Z, Deng Y, Yang H, Zhao L, Žutić I, Belashchenko KD, Wang K. Large and tunable magnetoresistance in van der Waals ferromagnet/semiconductor junctions. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5371. [PMID: 37666843 PMCID: PMC10477182 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41077-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with conventional bulk ferromagnets separated by a nonmagnetic insulating layer are key building blocks in spintronics for magnetic sensors and memory. A radically different approach of using atomically-thin van der Waals (vdW) materials in MTJs is expected to boost their figure of merit, the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR), while relaxing the lattice-matching requirements from the epitaxial growth and supporting high-quality integration of dissimilar materials with atomically-sharp interfaces. We report TMR up to 192% at 10 K in all-vdW Fe3GeTe2/GaSe/Fe3GeTe2 MTJs. Remarkably, instead of the usual insulating spacer, this large TMR is realized with a vdW semiconductor GaSe. Integration of semiconductors into the MTJs offers energy-band-tunability, bias dependence, magnetic proximity effects, and spin-dependent optical-selection rules. We demonstrate that not only the magnitude of the TMR is tuned by the semiconductor thickness but also the TMR sign can be reversed by varying the bias voltages, enabling modulation of highly spin-polarized carriers in vdW semiconductors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenkai Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
| | - Yingmei Zhu
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, 210093, Nanjing, China
| | - Tong Zhou
- Department of Physics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA
| | - Xianpeng Zhang
- Department of Physics, University of Basel, Basel, Basel-Stadt, CH-4056, Switzerland
| | - Hailong Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
| | - Qirui Cui
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, 210093, Nanjing, China
| | - Faguang Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China
| | - Ziao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
| | - Yongcheng Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China
| | - Hongxin Yang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, 210093, Nanjing, China.
| | - Lixia Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China.
- Tiangong University, 300387, Tianjin, China.
| | - Igor Žutić
- Department of Physics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA.
| | - Kirill D Belashchenko
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA.
| | - Kaiyou Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China.
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China.
- Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, 100193, Beijing, China.
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