Pierre Seneor

Large magnetoresistance in tunnel junctions with an iron oxide electrode

We report on the fabrication and properties of (cobalt/alumina/iron oxide) tunnel junctions. We observe magnetoresistance (MR) effects reaching 43% at 4.2 K and 13% at room temperature. This large MR is ascribed to the presence of a Fe3−xO4 (close to half-metallic magnetite) phase identified by electron diffraction. At low temperature, the MR drops sharply when the bias voltage is smaller than 10 mV, which suggests that the magnetoresistance originates from the activation of tunneling channels through spin polarized states below and above the Fermi level in the iron oxide.

Direct observation of a highly spin-polarized organic spinterface at room temperature

Organic semiconductors constitute promising candidates toward large-scale electronic circuits that are entirely spintronics-driven. Toward this goal, tunneling magnetoresistance values above 300% at low temperature suggested the presence of highly spin-polarized device interfaces. However, such spinterfaces have not been observed directly, let alone at room temperature. Thanks to experiments and theory on the model spinterface between phthalocyanine molecules and a Co single crystal surface, we clearly evidence a highly efficient spinterface. Spin-polarised direct and inverse photoemission experiments reveal a high degree of spin polarisation at room temperature at this interface. We measured a magnetic moment on the molecules nitrogen π orbitals, which substantiates an ab-initio theoretical description of highly spin-polarised charge conduction across the interface due to differing spinterface formation mechanisms in each spin channel. We propose, through this example, a recipe to engineer simple organic-inorganic interfaces with remarkable spintronic properties that can endure well above room temperature.

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.

Magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions grown on flexible organic substrates

We report on the fabrication and spin dependent tunneling studies of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) grown on flexible organic substrates. We observe comparable tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effects in standard Co/Al2O3/Co MTJs grown on either buffered polyester based organic substrates or silicon wafers. Moreover we show that after twisting and bending the MTJs on flexible substrates the TMR magnitude is maintained which indicates that spin dependent tunneling properties are preserved. This demonstrates that MTJs based spintronics devices are compatible with embodied flexible organic electronics.

Nanospintronics: when spintronics meets single electron physics

As spintronics goes nano, new phenomena are predicted resulting from the interplay between spin dependent transport and single electron physics. The long term goal of manipulating spins one by one would open a promising path to quantum computing. Towards this end, there is an ever-growing effort to connect spin tanks (i.e. ferromagnetic leads) to smaller and smaller objects in order to study spintronics in reduced dimensions. As the dimensions are reduced, spin dependent transport is predicted to interplay with quantum and/or single electron charging effects. We review experiments and theories on the interplay between Coulomb blockade and spin properties (namely magneto-Coulomb effects) in structures where a single nano-object is connected to ferromagnetic leads. We then discuss briefly future directions in the emerging field of nanospintronics towards quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and single molecule magnets.

Tunnel magnetoresistance in nanojunctions based on Sr2FeMoO6

We report on the observation of magnetoresistance in a Sr2FeMoO6 (SFMO)-based tunnel junction. This result is obtained by combining a three-step process for the growth of the Sr2FeMoO6 layer by pulsed laser deposition with a technology allowing the definition of nanometer-sized junctions. A clear positive magnetoresistive signal of 50% is obtained at low temperature in a Sr2FeMoO6/SrTiO3/Co junction. Since the SrTiO3/Co interface is known to have a negative spin polarization of about 20%, this result yields a negative spin polarization of SFMO, which we find to amount to more than 85% in our film. This confirms the half-metallic character of this compound, predicted by band structure calculations.

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.

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.

Interdependency of Subsurface Carbon Distribution and Graphene–Catalyst Interaction

The dynamics of the graphene–catalyst interaction during chemical vapor deposition are investigated using in situ, time- and depth-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and complementary grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations coupled to a tight-binding model. We thereby reveal the interdependency of the distribution of carbon close to the catalyst surface and the strength of the graphene–catalyst interaction. The strong interaction of epitaxial graphene with Ni(111) causes a depletion of dissolved carbon close to the catalyst surface, which prevents additional layer formation leading to a self-limiting graphene growth behavior for low exposure pressures (10–6–10–3 mbar). A further hydrocarbon pressure increase (to ∼10–1 mbar) leads to weakening of the graphene–Ni(111) interaction accompanied by additional graphene layer formation, mediated by an increased concentration of near-surface dissolved carbon. We show that growth of more weakly adhered, rotated graphene on Ni(111) is linked to an initially higher level of near-surface carbon compared to the case of epitaxial graphene growth. The key implications of these results for graphene growth control and their relevance to carbon nanotube growth are highlighted in the context of existing literature.

Using half-metallic manganite interfaces to reveal insights into spintronics.

A half-metal has been defined as a material with propagating electron states at the Fermi energy only for one of the two possible spin projections, and as such has been promoted as an interesting research direction for spin electronics. This review details recent advances on manganite thin film research within the field of spintronics, before presenting the structural, electronic and spin-polarized solid-state tunnelling transport studies that we have performed on heterostructures involving La(2/3)Sr(1/3)MnO(3) thin films separated by SrTiO(3) barriers. These experiments demonstrate that, with a polarization of spin [Formula: see text] electrons at the Fermi level that can reach 99%, the La(2/3)Sr(1/3)MnO(3)/SrTiO(3) interface for all practical purposes exhibits half-metallic behaviour. We offer insight into the electronic structure of the interface, including the electronic symmetry of any remaining spin [Formula: see text] states at the Fermi level. Finally, we present experiments that use the experimental half-metallic property of manganites as tools to reveal novel features of spintronics.