Sebastian Andersson

Spin Diode Based on Fe/MgO Double Tunnel Junction

We demonstrate a spin diode consisting of a semiconductor-free nanoscale Fe/MgO-based double tunnel junction. The device exhibits a near perfect spin-valve effect combined with a strong diode effect. The mechanism consistent with our data is resonant tunneling through discrete states in the middle ferromagnetic layer sandwiched by tunnel barriers of different spin-dependent transparency. The observed magnetoresistance is a record high>1000%, essentially making the structure an on/off spin switch. This, combined with the strong diode effect, approximately 100, demonstrates a new device principle, promising for memory and reprogrammable logic applications.

Thermoelectrical manipulation of nanomagnets

We investigate the interplay between the thermodynamic properties and spin-dependent transport in a mesoscopic device based on a magnetic multilayer (F/f/F), in which two strongly ferromagnetic layers (F) are exchange-coupled through a weakly ferromagnetic spacer (f) with the Curie temperature in the vicinity of room temperature. We show theoretically that the Joule heating produced by the spin-dependent current allows a spin-thermoelectronic control of the ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic (f/N) transition in the spacer and, thereby, of the relative orientation of the outer F-layers in the device (spin-thermoelectric manipulation of nanomagnets). Supporting experimental evidence of such thermally-controlled switching from parallel to antiparallel magnetization orientations in F/f(N)/F sandwiches is presented. Furthermore, we show theoretically that local Joule heating due to a high concentration of current in a magnetic point contact or a nanopillar can be used to reversibly drive the weakly ferromagnetic spacer through its Curie point and thereby exchange couple and decouple the two strongly ferromagnetic F-layers. For the devices designed to have an antiparallel ground state above the Curie point of the spacer, the associated spin-thermionic parallel to antiparallel switching causes magnetoresistance oscillations whose frequency can be controlled by proper biasing from essentially dc to GHz. We discuss in detail an experimental realization of a device that can operate as a thermomagnetoresistive switch or oscillator.

Temperature-controlled interlayer exchange coupling in strong/weak ferromagnetic multilayers : A thermomagnetic Curie switch

We investigate interlayer exchange coupling based on driving a strong/weak/strong ferromagnetic trilayer through the Curie point of the weakly ferromagnetic spacer, with exchange coupling between the strongly ferromagnetic outer layers that can be switched on and off, or varied continuously in magnitude by controlling the temperature of the material. We use Ni-Cu alloys of varied composition as the spacer material and model the effects of proximity-induced magnetism and the interlayer exchange coupling through the spacer from first principles, taking into account not only thermal spin disorder but also the dependence of the atomic moment of Ni on the nearest-neighbor concentration of the nonmagnetic Cu. We propose and demonstrate a gradient-composition spacer, with a lower Ni concentration at the interfaces, for greatly improved effective-exchange uniformity and significantly improved thermomagnetic switching in the structure. The reported multilayer materials can form the base for a variety of magnetic devices, such as sensors, oscillators, and memory elements based on thermomagnetic Curie switching.

Hot electrons in magnetic point contacts as a photon source

We propose to use a point contact between a ferromagnetic and a normal metal in the presence of a magnetic field for creating a large inverted spin population of hot electrons in the contact core. The key point of the proposal is that when these hot electrons relax by flipping their spin, microwave photons are emitted, with a frequency tunable by the applied magnetic field. While point contacts are an established technology, their use as a photon source is a new and potentially very useful application. We show that this photon emission process can be detected by means of transport spectroscopy and demonstrate stimulated emission of radiation in the 10-100GHz range for a model point contact system using a minority-spin ferromagnetic injector. These results can potentially lead to new types of lasers based on spin injection in metals.

Thermoelectrically Controlled Spin-Switch

The search for novel spintronic devices brings about new ways to control switching in magnetic thin-films. In this work we experimentally demonstrate a device based on thermoelectrically controlled exchange coupling. The read out signal from a giant magnetoresistance element is controlled by exchange coupling through a weakly ferromagnetic Ni-Cu alloy. This exchange coupling is shown to vary strongly with changes in temperature, and both internal Joule heating and external heating is used to demonstrate magnetic switching. The device shows no degradation upon thermal cycling. Ways to further optimize the device performance are discussed. Our experimental results show a new way to thermoelectrically control magnetic switching in multilayers.

Stimulated emission and absorption of photons in magnetic point contacts

Point contacts between high anisotropy ferromagnetic SmCo5 and normal metal Cu are used to achieve a strong spin-population inversion in the contact core. Subjected to microwave irradiation in resonance with the Zeeman splitting in Cu, the inverted spin population relaxes through stimulated spin-flip photon emission, detected as peaks in the point-contact resistance. Resonant spin-flip photon absorption is detected as resistance minima, corresponding to sourcing the photon field energy into the electrical circuit. These results demonstrate fundamental mechanisms that are potentially useful in designing metallic spin-based lasers.

Exchange coupling and magnetoresistance in CoFe/NiCu/CoFe spin valves near the Curie point of the spacer

Thermal control of exchange coupling between two strongly ferromagnetic layers through a weakly ferromagnetic Ni–Cu spacer and the associated magnetoresistance is investigated. The spacer, having a Curie point slightly above room temperature, can be cycled between its paramagnetic and ferromagnetic states by varying the temperature externally or using joule heating. It is shown that the giant magnetoresistance vanishes due to a strong reduction in the mean free path in the spacer at above ∼30% Ni concentration—before the onset of ferromagnetism. Finally, a device is proposed which combines thermally controlled exchange coupling and large magnetoresistance by separating the switching and the readout elements.

Thermal-magnetic-electric oscillator based on spin-valve effect

A. M. Kadigrobov, 2 S. Andersson, Hee Chul Park, 4 D. Radić, 5 R. I. Shekhter, M. Jonson, 6, 7 and V. Korenivski Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden Theoretische Physik III, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44801 Bochum, Germany Nanostructure Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden Department of Physics, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 1001 Zagreb, Croatia School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland, UK 7 Division of Quantum Phases and Devices, School of Physics, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Republic of KoreaA thermal-magnetic-electric valve with the free layer of exchange-spring type and inverse magnetoresistance is investigated. The structure has S-shaped current-voltage characteristics and can exhibit spontaneous oscillations when integrated with a conventional capacitor within a resonator circuit. The frequency of the oscillations can be controlled from essentially dc to the GHz range by the circuit capacitance.

Spin Torques in Point Contacts to Exchange-Biased Ferromagnetic Films

Hysteretic magneto-resistance of point contacts formed between non-magnetic tips and single ferromagnetic films exchange-pinned by antiferromagnetic films is investigated. The analysis of the measured current driven and field driven hysteresis agrees with the recently proposed model of the surface spin-valve, where the spin orientation at the interface can be different from that in the bulk of the film. The switching in magneto-resistance at low fields is observed to depend significantly on the direction of the exchange pinning, which allows identifying this transition as a reversal of interior spins of the pinned ferromagnetic films. The switching at higher fields is thus due to a spin reversal in the point contact core, at the top surface of the ferromagnet, and does not exhibit any clear field offset when the exchange-pinning direction or the magnetic field direction is varied. This magnitude of the switching field of the surface spins varies substantially from contact to contact and sometimes from sweep to sweep, which suggests that the surface coercivity can change under very high current densities and/or due to the particular microstructure of the point contact. In contrast, no changes in the effect of the exchange biasing on the interior spins are observed at high currents, possibly due to the rapid drop in the current density away from nanometer sized point contact cores.

Tunneling Spectroscopy of Magnetic Double Barrier Junctions

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to study transport in magnetic double tunnel junctions (DTJs) formed using a fixed transparency barrier of a patterned tunnel junction (TJ), and a variable tunnel barrier between the top electrode of the patterned junction and the STM tip. A sufficiently thin top electrode has been predicted to result in a rectification of charge current through a DTJ when the two barriers have different transparency. Our measurements indeed show a high current rectification ratio for 3-nm-thick, continuous film top electrodes, which is observed for junctions with asymmetric tunnel barriers