Jared J. I. Wong

Tunneling Spin Injection into Single Layer Graphene

We achieve tunneling spin injection from Co into single layer graphene (SLG) using TiO₂ seeded MgO barriers. A nonlocal magnetoresistance (ΔR(NL)) of 130  Ω is observed at room temperature, which is the largest value observed in any material. Investigating ΔR(NL) vs SLG conductivity from the transparent to the tunneling contact regimes demonstrates the contrasting behaviors predicted by the drift-diffusion theory of spin transport. Furthermore, tunnel barriers reduce the contact-induced spin relaxation and are therefore important for future investigations of spin relaxation in graphene.

Epitaxial EuO thin films on GaAs

We demonstrate the epitaxial growth of EuO on GaAs by reactive molecular beam epitaxy. Thin films are grown in an adsorption-controlled regime with the aid of an MgO diffusion barrier. Despite the large lattice mismatch, it is shown that EuO grows well on MgO(001) with excellent magnetic properties. Epitaxy on GaAs is cube-on-cube and longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr effect measurements demonstrate a large Kerr rotation of 0.57°, a significant remanent magnetization, and a Curie temperature of 69 K.

Integrating MBE materials with graphene to induce novel spin-based phenomena

Magnetism in graphene is an emerging field that has received much theoretical attention. In particular, there have been exciting predictions for induced magnetism through proximity to a ferromagnetic insulator as well as through localized dopants and defects. Here, the authors discuss their experimental work using molecular beam epitaxy to modify the surface of graphene and induce novel spin-dependent phenomena. First, they investigate the epitaxial growth of the ferromagnetic insulator EuO on graphene and discuss possible scenarios for realizing exchange splitting and exchange fields by ferromagnetic insulators. Second, they investigate the properties of magnetic moments in graphene originating from localized pz -orbital defects (i.e., adsorbed hydrogen atoms). The behavior of these magnetic moments is studied using nonlocal spin transport to directly probe the spin-degree of freedom of the defect-induced states. They also report the presence of enhanced electron g-factors caused by the exchange fields present in the system. Importantly, the exchange field is found to be highly gate dependent, with decreasing g-factors with increasing carrier densities.

Tailoring interlayer exchange coupling of ferromagnetic films across MgO with Fe nanoclusters

We investigate the interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/MgO/Fe and Fe/MgO/Co systems with magnetic Fe nanoclusters embedded in the MgO spacer. Samples are grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and utilize wedged MgO films to independently vary the film thickness and the position of the Fe nanoclusters. Depending on the position of the Fe nanoclusters, the bilinear coupling (J1) exhibits strong variations in magnitude and can even switch between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic. This effect is explained by the magnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic films and the magnetic nanoclusters. Interestingly, the coupling of Fe nanoclusters to a Co film is 160% stronger than their coupling to a Fe film (at MgO spacing of 0.56 nm). This is much greater than the coupling difference of 20% observed in the analogous thin film systems (i.e. Fe/MgO/Co vs. Fe/MgO/Fe), identifying an interesting nano-scaling effect related to the coupling between films and nanoclusters.

Oscillatory spin polarization and magneto-optical Kerr effect in Fe₃O₄ thin films on GaAs(001).

The spin dependent properties of epitaxial Fe₃O₄ thin films on GaAs(001) are studied by the ferromagnetic proximity polarization (FPP) effect and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE). Both FPP and MOKE show oscillations with respect to Fe₃O₄ film thickness, and the oscillations are large enough to induce repeated sign reversals. We attribute the oscillatory behavior to spin-polarized quantum well states forming in the Fe₃O₄ film. Quantum confinement of the t(2g) states near the Fermi level provides an explanation for the similar thickness dependences of the FPP and MOKE oscillations.

TiO2 as an electrostatic template for epitaxial growth of EuO on MgO(001) by reactive molecular beam epitaxy

We investigate the initial growth modes and the role of interfacial electrostatic interactions of EuO epitaxy on MgO(001) by reactive molecular beam epitaxy. A TiO2 interfacial layer is employed to produce high quality epitaxial growth of EuO on MgO(001) with a 45° in plane rotation. For comparison, direct deposition of EuO on MgO, without the TiO2 layer shows a much slower time evolution in producing a single crystal film. Conceptual arguments of electrostatic repulsion of like-ions are introduced to explain the increased EuO quality at the interface with the TiO2 layer. It is shown that ultrathin EuO films in the monolayer regime can be produced on the TiO2 surface by substrate-supplied oxidation and that such films have bulk Curie temperatures.