A. Anane

Magnetic semiconductors based on cobalt substituted ZnO

We have investigated the microstructure and the magnetic properties of cobalt substituted ZnO thin films deposited on sapphire (0001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. We have optimized the growth condition using in situ monitoring by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. We found that ferromagnetic films need to be grown at low oxygen partial pressure (<10−6 Torr). Films with 25% of Co are ferromagnetic at room temperature with clear out-of-plane anisotropy. We have looked for spurious origins of the ferromagnetic signal and found none.

Inverse spin Hall effect in nanometer-thick yttrium iron garnet/Pt system

High quality nanometer-thick (20 nm, 7 nm, and 4 nm) epitaxial Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) films have been grown on gadolinium gallium garnet substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The Gilbert damping coefficient for the 20 nm thick films is 2.3 × 10−4 which is the lowest value reported for sub-micrometric thick films. We demonstrate Inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) detection of propagating spin waves using Pt. The amplitude and the lineshape of the ISHE voltage correlate well to the increase of the Gilbert damping when decreasing thickness of YIG. Spin Hall effect based loss-compensation experiments have been conducted but no change in the magnetization dynamics could be detected.

Vertical-current-induced domain-wall motion in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions with low current densities

In the past few years, there have been a number of proposals for fabricating magnetic memories based on the current-induced motion of magnetic domain walls. A device that uses a novel geometry for injecting electrical currents into the sample is shown to work with current densities that are two orders of magnitude lower than in previous approaches.

Magnetic thin-film insulator with ultra-low spin wave damping for coherent nanomagnonics

Wave control in the solid state has opened new avenues in modern information technology. Surface-acoustic-wave-based devices are found as mass market products in 100 millions of cellular phones. Spin waves (magnons) would offer a boost in todays data handling and security implementations, i.e., image processing and speech recognition. However, nanomagnonic devices realized so far suffer from the relatively short damping length in the metallic ferromagnets amounting to a few 10 micrometers typically. Here we demonstrate that nm-thick YIG films overcome the damping chasm. Using a conventional coplanar waveguide we excite a large series of short-wavelength spin waves (SWs). From the data we estimate a macroscopic of damping length of about 600 micrometers. The intrinsic damping parameter suggests even a record value about 1 mm allowing for magnonics-based nanotechnology with ultra-low damping. In addition, SWs at large wave vector are found to exhibit the non-reciprocal properties relevant for new concepts in nanoscale SW-based logics. We expect our results to provide the basis for coherent data processing with SWs at GHz rates and in large arrays of cellular magnetic arrays, thereby boosting the envisioned image processing and speech recognition.

Generation of coherent spin-wave modes in yttrium iron garnet microdiscs by spin-orbit torque.

In recent years, spin–orbit effects have been widely used to produce and detect spin currents in spintronic devices. The peculiar symmetry of the spin Hall effect allows creation of a spin accumulation at the interface between a metal with strong spin–orbit interaction and a magnetic insulator, which can lead to a net pure spin current flowing from the metal into the insulator. This spin current applies a torque on the magnetization, which can eventually be driven into steady motion. Tailoring this experiment on extended films has proven to be elusive, probably due to mode competition. This requires the reduction of both the thickness and lateral size to reach full damping compensation. Here we show clear evidence of coherent spin–orbit torque-induced auto-oscillation in micron-sized yttrium iron garnet discs of thickness 20 nm. Our results emphasize the key role of quasi-degenerate spin-wave modes, which increase the threshold current.

Graphene-Passivated Nickel as an Oxidation-Resistant Electrode for Spintronics

We report on graphene-passivated ferromagnetic electrodes (GPFE) for spin devices. GPFE are shown to act as spin-polarized oxidation-resistant electrodes. The direct coating of nickel with few layer graphene through a readily scalable chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process allows the preservation of an unoxidized nickel surface upon air exposure. Fabrication and measurement of complete reference tunneling spin valve structures demonstrate that the GPFE is maintained as a spin polarizer and also that the presence of the graphene coating leads to a specific sign reversal of the magneto-resistance. Hence, this work highlights a novel oxidation-resistant spin source which further unlocks low cost wet chemistry processes for spintronics devices.

Are Al2O3 and MgO tunnel barriers suitable for spin injection in graphene

We report on the structural impact on graphene and multi-layers graphene of the growth by sputtering of tunnel barriers. Sputtered Al2O3 and MgO barriers were chosen for their well-known efficiency as spin injectors in spintronics devices. The impact of the growth on the structure of graphene and up to 4-layer flakes was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. This study reveals that for Al2O3 growth, the impact is moderate for a monolayer and decreases sharply for bilayers and above. In the case of MgO all the flakes underwent a strong amorphization. Moreover, this reveals that while single layer graphene is believed to offer the best spin transport properties, the better robustness of multilayer graphene may ultimately make it a better choice for spintronics devices.

Full control of the spin-wave damping in a magnetic insulator using spin-orbit torque.

A. Hamadeh, O. d’Allivy Kelly, C. Hahn, H. Meley, R. Bernard, A.H. Molpeceres, V. V. Naletov, 2, 3 M. Viret, A. Anane, V. Cros, S. O. Demokritov, J. L. Prieto, M. Muñoz, G. de Loubens, and O. Klein ∗ Service de Physique de l’État Condensé (CNRS URA 2464), CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/Thales and Université Paris Sud 11, 1 av. Fresnel, 91767 Palaiseau, France Institute of Physics, Kazan Federal University, Kazan 420008, Russian Federation Department of Physics, University of Muenster, 48149 Muenster, Germany Instituto de Sistemas Optoelectrónicos y Microtecnoloǵıa (UPM), Madrid 28040, Spain Instituto de Microelectrónica de Madrid (CNM, CSIC), Madrid 28760, Spain (Dated: May 30, 2014)

Sub-nanometer Atomic Layer Deposition for Spintronics in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions Based on Graphene Spin-Filtering Membranes

We report on the successful integration of low-cost, conformal, and versatile atomic layer deposited (ALD) dielectric in Ni–Al2O3–Co magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) where the Ni is coated with a spin-filtering graphene membrane. The ALD tunnel barriers, as thin as 0.6 nm, are grown layer-by-layer in a simple, low-vacuum, ozone-based process, which yields high-quality electron-transport barriers as revealed by tunneling characterization. Even under these relaxed conditions, including air exposure of the interfaces, a significant tunnel magnetoresistance is measured highlighting the robustness of the process. The spin-filtering effect of graphene is enhanced, leading to an almost fully inversed spin polarization for the Ni electrode of −42%. This unlocks the potential of ALD for spintronics with conformal, layer-by-layer control of tunnel barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions toward low-cost fabrication and down-scaling of tunnel resistances.

Spintronics with graphene

Because of its fascinating electronic properties, graphene is expected to produce breakthroughs in many areas of nanoelectronics. For spintronics, its key advantage is the expected long spin lifetime, combined with its large electron velocity. In this article, we review recent theoretical and experimental results showing that graphene could be the long-awaited platform for spintronics. A critical parameter for both characterization and devices is the resistance of the contact between the electrodes and the graphene, which must be large enough to prevent quenching of the induced spin polarization but small enough to allow for the detection of this polarization. Spin diffusion lengths in the 100-{\mu}m range, much longer than those in conventional metals and semiconductors, have been observed. This could be a unique advantage for several concepts of spintronic devices, particularly for the implementation of complex architectures or logic circuits in which information is coded by pure spin currents.