Kazuhito Tanaka

Voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy in Fe|MgO tunnel junctions studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy

In this study, voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) in Fe|MgO tunnel junctions was investigated via the magneto-optical Kerr effect, soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy. The Fe|MgO tunnel junctions showed enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy under external negative voltage, which induced charge depletion at the Fe|MgO interface. Despite the application of voltages of opposite polarity, no trace of chemical reaction such as a redox reaction attributed to O2− migration was detected in the x-ray absorption spectra of the Fe. The VCMA reported in the Fe|MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions must therefore originate from phenomena associated with the purely electric effect, that is, surface electron doping and/or redistribution induced by an external electric field.

Room-temperature operation of Si spin MOSFET with high on/off spin signal ratio

We experimentally demonstrate a Si spin metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) that exhibits a high on/off ratio of source-drain current and spin signals at room temperature. The spin channel is non-degenerate n-type Si, and an effective application of gate voltage in the back-gated structure allows the spin MOSFET operation. This achievement can pave the way to practical use of the Si spin MOSFET.

Voltage controlled interfacial magnetism through platinum orbits

Electric fields at interfaces exhibit useful phenomena, such as switching functions in transistors, through electron accumulations and/or electric dipole inductions. We find one potentially unique situation in a metal–dielectric interface in which the electric field is atomically inhomogeneous because of the strong electrostatic screening effect in metals. Such electric fields enable us to access electric quadrupoles of the electron shell. Here we show, by synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, electric field induction of magnetic dipole moments in a platinum monatomic layer placed on ferromagnetic iron. Our theoretical analysis indicates that electric quadrupole induction produces magnetic dipole moments and provides a large magnetic anisotropy change. In contrast with the inability of current designs to offer ultrahigh-density memory devices using electric-field-induced spin control, our findings enable a material design showing more than ten times larger anisotropy energy change for such a use and highlight a path in electric-field control of condensed matter.

Observation of large spin accumulation voltages in nondegenerate Si spin devices due to spin drift effect: Experiments and theory

A large spin-accumulation voltage of more than 1.5 mV at 1 mA, i.e., a magnetoresistance of 1.5 {\Omega}, was measured by means of the local three-terminal magnetoresistance in nondegenerate Si-based lateral spin valves (LSVs) at room temperature. This is the largest spin-accumulation voltage measured in semiconductor-based LSVs. The modified spin drift-diffusion model, which successfully accounts for the spin drift effect, explains the large spin-accumulation voltage and significant bias-current-polarity dependence. The model also shows that the spin drift effect enhances the spin-dependent magnetoresistance in the electric two terminal scheme. This finding provides a useful guiding principle for spin metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) operations.

Tunnel anisotropic magnetoresistance in CoFeB|MgO|Ta junctions

We found that CoFeB|MgO|Ta tunnel junctions exhibit tunnel anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR) at room temperature. The tunnel junctions exhibit positive magnetoresistance with the application of a magnetic field normal to the film plane. The dependencies on the applied magnetic field angle and MgO thickness reveal that the magnetoresistance originates from the TAMR, caused by the spin polarization and the spin-orbit interaction at the CoFeB|MgO interface. We also found that the TAMR can be used to detect ferromagnetic resonance in the CoFeB. This detection method could be useful for the characterization of nanomagnets that are free from the spin-transfer effect and the stray field of a reference layer, unlike conventional magnetic tunnel junctions.

Large voltage-induced magnetic anisotropy field change in ferrimagnetic FeGd

The voltage-induced magnetic anisotropy change of an ultrathin ferrimagnetic FeGd alloy has been characterized using V|Fe90Gd10|MgO|Fe magnetic tunnel junctions. The bias-voltage dependence of the magnetoresistance measurement reveals the voltage-induced anisotropy change in the V|Fe90Gd10|MgO junction. The magnetic anisotropy field change (ΔHk) in Fe90Gd10 is about twice that in Fe owing to the small net magnetization of the former. Therefore, employing ferrimagnetic materials is a promising option for voltage-controlled frequency-tunable spintronic devices.