Spin thermopower and thermoconductance in a ferromagnetic graphene nanoribbon

The spin thermoelectric properties of a zigzag edged ferromagnetic (FM) graphene nanoribbon are studied theoretically by using the non-equilibrium Green's function method combined with the Landauer-Büttiker formula. By applying a temperature gradient along the ribbon, under closed boundary conditions, there is a spin voltage ΔV(s) inside the terminal as the response to the temperature difference ΔT between two terminals. Meanwhile, the heat current ΔQ is accompanied from the 'hot' terminal to the 'cold' terminal. The spin thermopower S?=?ΔV(s)/ΔT and thermoconductance κ?=?ΔQ/ΔT are obtained. When there is no magnetic field, S versus E(R) curves show peaks and valleys as a result of band selective transmission and Klein tunneling with E(R) being the on-site energy of the right terminal. The results are in agreement with the semi-classical Mott relation. When |E(R)|??M, the quantized value of [Formula: see text] appears. In the quantum Hall regime, because Klein tunneling is suppressed, S peaks are eliminated and the quantized value of κ is much clearer. We also investigate how the thermoelectric properties are affected by temperature, FM exchange split energy and Anderson disorder. The results indicate that S and κ are sensitive to disorder. S is suppressed for even small disorder strengths. For small disorder strengths, κ is enhanced and for moderate disorder strengths, κ shows quantized values.     

Spin relaxation in single-layer and bilayer graphene

We investigate spin relaxation in graphene spin valves and observe strongly contrasting behavior for single-layer graphene (SLG) and bilayer graphene (BLG). In SLG, the spin lifetime (τ(s)) varies linearly with the momentum scattering time (τ(p)) as carrier concentration is varied, indicating the dominance of Elliot-Yafet (EY) spin relaxation at low temperatures. In BLG, τ(s) and τ(p) exhibit an inverse dependence, which indicates the dominance of Dyakonov-Perel spin relaxation at low temperatures. The different behavior is due to enhanced screening and/or reduced surface sensitivity of BLG, which greatly reduces the impurity-induced EY spin relaxation.     

Spin transport in a Zigzag normal/ferromagnetic graphene junction

We study magnetic proximity effect induced low-energy spin transport in the normal/ferromagnetic junction of a semi-infinite zigzag graphene nanoribbon. Due to the absence of a spin flip in a single interface, the spin transfer in this model can be described by the two-spin channel model. We identify each spin channel as either a perfect conducting or a non-conducting channel. This feature leads to spin filter in symmetric zigzag graphene nanoribbon and spin precession in antisymmetric zigzag graphene nanoribbon, and helps to directly determine the exchange-splitting intensity directly, even without an external auxiliary bias.     

Observation of quadratic magnetoresistance in twisted double bilayer graphene

Magnetoresistance ({MR}) provides rich information about Fermi surface, carrier scatterings, and exotic phases for a given electronic system. Here, we report a study of the magnetoresistance for the metallic states in twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG). We observe quadratic magnetoresistance in both Moiré valence band (VB) and Moiré conduction band (CB). The scaling analysis shows validity of Kohler's rule in the Moiré valence band. On the other hand, the quadratic magnetoresistance appears near the halo structure in the Moiré conduction band, and it violates Kohler's rule, demonstrating the {MR} scaling related to band structure in TDBG. We also propose an alternative scaling near the halo structure. Further analysis implies that the observed quadratic magnetoresistance and alternative scaling in conduction band are related to the halo boundary. Our results may inspire investigation on {MR} in twisted 2D materials and provide new knowledge for {MR} study in condensed matter physics.     

Tunnel magnetoresistance of bilayer ferromagnetic nanoparticles with magnetostatic interlayer interaction

A new method for forming submicron magnetic tunnel junctions consisting of two CoFe ferromagnetic layers separated by a dielectric TaO _x spacer is proposed. It is shown that the tunnel magnetoresistance effect can be used for studying the features of magnetization reversal of bilayer ferromagnetic nanoparticles.     

Large oscillating tunnel magnetoresistance in ferromagnetic graphene single tunnel junction

Spin-polarized transports of relativistic electrons through graphene-based ferromagnet/insulator/ferromagnet (FG/IG/FG) single junctions have been investigated theoretically. Large oscillating tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) has been found in monolayer and bilayer FG/IG/FG junctions. The oscillating amplitudes of TMR do not decrease with the increase of the thickness and the height of barrier, in contrast to the exponential decay in conventional ferromagnet/insulator/ferromagnet single junction. The physical origin for such a phenomenon has also been analyzed. It is anticipated to apply such a phenomenon to design the spin-polarized electron device based on the graphene materials.     

Spin filter effect and large magnetoresistance in the zigzag graphene nanoribbons

The spin filter effect and magnetoresistance (MR) in the graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edges have been investigated by the non-equilibrium Green’s function method. Due to the spin-dependent current blocking effect, the ferromagnetic graphene/normal graphene junction can filter the spin in one direction, so a fully spin-polarized current is found. As the on-site energy μ_R in the right lead goes from negative to positive, the spin-down transmission would suddenly transforms from an `ON’ state to an `OFF’ state, however the spin-up transmission transforms from an `OFF’ state to an `ON’ state, so we can choose the current’s spin polarized direction by tuning μ_R. For the ferromagnetic graphene/ferromagnetic graphene junction the current for the antiparallel magnetization configuration is blocked, a very large MR is obtained. It is expected that these features may serve as a type of useful spintronic devices in future.     

Spin filtering and large magnetoresistance behaviors in carbon chain-zigzag graphene nanoribbon nanojunctions

Using the non-equilibrium Green's function method combined with the density functional theory, we investigate the electron and spin transport properties of carbon chains covalently connected with zigzag-edged graphene electrodes at finite bias with the parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetism configurations. When two zigzag-edged graphene electrodes are H2–ZGNR–H structures, spin filtering effect can be realized only with AP magnetism configuration. While one electrode is replaced with the H–ZGNR–H structure, we observe a dual spin filtering effect with above two magnetism configurations. But the spin transport properties of carbon chains can also be affected by the linking way of the carbon chain ends. Deeper analyses show that the spin-related properties are related to the electrodes, magnetism configurations, and the connection structure between electrodes and carbon chains.     

Spin polarization of two-dimensional electron gas in a hybrid magnetic-electric barrier

We report on a theoretical study of spin-dependent electron transport in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) modulated by a stripe of ferromagnetic metal under an applied voltage. A general formula of transmission probability for electronic tunneling through this system is obtained. Based on this formula, it is shown that large spin-polarized current can be achieved in such a device. It is also shown that the degree of electron-spin polarization is strongly dependent upon the applied voltage to the stripe in the device. These interesting properties may provide an alternative scheme to spin-polarize electrons into semiconductors, and this device may be used as a voltage-tunable spin-filter.     

一维铁磁/有机共轭聚合物的自旋极化研究

针对最近关于自旋注入有机体的实验研究，理论上计算了有机分子与磁性原子接触时的自旋极化现象.通过调节磁性原子的自旋劈裂强度，发现有机分子链内的自旋极化弱于金属链，但强于半导体链.同时还研究了有机分子链内自旋极化随电子-声子耦合强度的变化关系以及界面耦合的自旋相关效应. 关键词： 界面耦合 自旋极化 自旋劈裂     

Resistance peak and giant magnetoresistance of degenerate ferromagnetic semiconductors with arbitrary spin polarization

The temperature peak of the resistance and the giant magnetoresistance of degenerate ferromagnetic semiconductors with an arbitrary degree of electron spin polarization are investigated. The spin-wave and paramagnetic domains are considered. The calculations are based on the notion of the magnetic-impurity scattering of carriers. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1589–1593 (September 1997)     

Dirac quasiparticle tunneling in a NG/ferromagnetic barrier/SG graphene junction

We study the tunneling conductance in a spin dependent barrier NG/F_B/SG graphene junction, where NG, F_B and SG are normal graphene, gate ferromagnetic graphene barrier with thickness d and the graphene s-wave superconductor, respectively. In our work, the quasiparticle scattering process at the interfaces is based on quasi particles governed by the Dirac Bogoliubov–de Gennes equation with effective speed of light v_F ∼ 10⁶ m/s. The conductance of the junction is calculated based on Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk (BTK) formalism. The oscillatory conductance under varying gate potential and exchange energy in F_B and the conductance induced by specular Andreev reflection are studied. By taking into account both effects of barrier strengths due to the gate potential χ_G∼V_Gd/?v_F${\chi }_{\text{G}}\sim V_{\text{G}}d/?v_{\text{F}}$ and the exchange energy χ_ex∼E_exd/?v_F${\chi }_{\text{ex}}\sim E_{\text{ex}}d/?v_{\text{F}}$ in the F_B region, we find that the zero bias conductance of junction depends only on the ferromagnetic barrier strength χ_ex in F_B, when the Fermi energy in SG is very much larger than that the Fermi energy in NG (E_FS ? E_FN). The oscillatory conductance peaks can be controlled by either varying χ_ex or χ_G. In the limiting case, by setting E_ex = 0, the conductance in a NG/N_B/SG graphene junction, where SG is the s-wave superconductor, is also studied in order to compare with two earlier contradicted data. Our result agrees with what was obtained by Linder and Sudbo [J. Linder, A. Sudbo, Phys. Rev. B 77 (2008) 64507], which confirms the contradiction to what was given by Bhattacharjee and Sengupta [S. Bhattacharjee, K. Sengupta, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 (2006) 217001].     

Magnetotransport through ac driven ferromagnetic graphene nanoribbons

We present a theoretical study on the spin-dependent transport through the ferromagnetic graphene nanoribbons in the presence of a magnetic and an in-plane ac electric field, and find that when the ac field is applied, in the two-terminal ferromagnetic graphene device, for the parallel configurations of the electrodes' magnetizations, the width of the even-number conductance plateaus decrease, the new conductance plateaus appear at the odd-number positions, and the even-number conductance plateaus at the high energy are quenched under the sufficiently strong ac field. In contrast, for the antiparallel configuration of the electrodes' magnetizations, the odd-plateaus of the conductance shrink, and the new plateaus developed at the even-number positions. The magnetic resistance exhibits a successive rectangular-like oscillation structure close to the band edge, whereas experiences an alternative transition between the sharp peak and dip near the zero energy with increasing the ac field strength. In the six-terminal ferromagnetic graphene device, the variations of the longitudinal and Hall resistances' plateaus as well as the addition of the new quantized plateaus with the rise of the ac field strength are also revealed.     

Spin torque, tunnel-current spin polarization, and magnetoresistance in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

We employ the spin-torque response of magnetic tunnel junctions with ultrathin MgO tunnel barrier layers to investigate the relationship between spin transfer and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) under finite bias, and find that the spin torque per unit current exerted on the free layer decreases by < 10% over a bias range where the TMR decreases by > 40%. This is inconsistent with free-electron-like spin-polarized tunneling and reduced-surface-magnetism models of the TMR bias dependence, but is consistent with magnetic-state-dependent decay lengths in the tunnel barrier.     

Negative and positive magnetoresistance in bilayer graphene: Effects of weak localization and charge inhomogeneity

We report measurements of magnetoresistance in bilayer graphene as a function of gate voltage (carrier density) and temperature. We examine multiple contributions to the magnetoresistance, including those of weak localization (WL), universal conductance fluctuations (UCF), and inhomogeneous charge transport. A clear WL signal is evident at all measured gate voltages (in the hole doped regime) and temperature ranges (from 0.25 to 4.3 K), and the phase coherence length extracted from the WL data does not saturate at low temperatures. The WL data is fit to demonstrate that the electron-electron Nyquist scattering is the major source of phase decoherence. A decrease in UCF amplitude with increase in gate voltage and temperature is shown to be consistent with a corresponding decrease in the phase coherence length. In addition, a weak positive magnetoresistance at higher magnetic fields is observed, and attributed to inhomogeneous charge transport.     

Spin polarization of two-dimensional electron gas in hybrid ferromagnetic/semiconductor nanostructures

We present a theoretical study on the spin-dependent transport of electrons in hybrid ferromagnetic/semiconductor nanosystem under an applied bias voltage. Experimentally, this kind of nanosystem can be realized by depositing a magnetized ferromagnetic stripe with arbitrary magnetization direction on the surface of a semiconductor heterostructure. It is shown that large spin-polarized current can be achieved in such a nanosystem. It is also shown that the spin polarity of the electron transport can be switched by adjusting the applied bias voltage. These interesting properties may provide an alternative scheme to realize spin injection into semiconductors, and such a nanosystem may be used as a tunable spin-filter by bias voltage.     

Percolation magnetoresistance in ferromagnetic superconductors

It is shown that the magnetoresistance (as a function of magnetic field H) in polycrystalline magnetic superconductors has the percolation character which is the consequence of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility. The magnetoresistance R_m(H), and the upper critical field H_c2(T) of ErRh₄B₄ are evaluated and compared with the experimental data.     

GaMnN铁磁共振隧穿二极管自旋电流输运以及极化效应的影响

通过理论计算研究GaMnN铁磁共振隧穿二极管自旋电流输运特性.理论结果表明在电流特性曲线上出现两个明显的自旋分裂峰.该电流自旋分裂峰和相应的自旋极化随温度的升高而逐渐减小消失.当进一步考虑到GaN异质结界面极化电荷影响时,自旋向下的电流共振峰得到明显增强,同时电流的自旋极化也得到相应的提高.在一定的极化电荷条件下,可以获得较高的自旋极化电流. 关键词： GaMnN 共振隧穿 自旋电流 极化电荷