Influence of a metallic substrate’s magnetic state on the huge magnetoresistance of a ferromagnet-polymer structure

The association between the threshold value of conductance switching in an external magnetic field and the initial magnetic state of a ferromagnetic plate substrate is shown for a ferromagnet/polymer/nonmagnetic metal system. The threshold magnetic field change is explained by appearance of residual magnetization after being held in an external magnetic field and, correspondingly, by the change in the initial state upon further remagnetization.     

Distribution of pairing functions in superconducting spin valve SF1F2

The distribution of the spin-singlet component, the short-range spin-triplet component with zero projection, and the long-range spin-triplet component with projection ±1 of the superconducting pairing function has been obtained for different regimes of switching of a spin valve with a three-layer heterostructure (superconductor/ferromagnet/ferromagnet). The distribution of the components is discussed as the main reason for the behavior of the superconducting transition temperature as a function of the angle between the magnetic moments of the ferromagnetic layers in these regimes.     

Possible Evidence for Spin-Transfer Torque Induced by Spin-Triplet Supercurrents

The mutual interplay between superconductivity and magnetism in superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures may give rise to unusual proximity effects beyond current knowledge. Especially, spin-triplet Cooper pairs could be created at carefully engineered superconductor/ferromagnet interfaces. Here we report a giant proximity effect on spin dynamics in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor Josephson junctions. Below the superconducting transition temperature T_C, the ferromagnetic resonance field at X-band(~9.0 GHz) shifts rapidly to a lower field with decreasing temperature. In strong contrast, this phenomenon is absent in ferromagnet/superconductor bilayers and superconductor/insulator/ferromagnet/superconductor multilayers. Such an intriguing phenomenon can not be interpreted by the conventional Meissner effect. Instead, we propose that the strong influence on spin dynamics could be due to spin-transfer torque associated with spin-triplet supercurrents in ferromagnetic Josephson junctions with precessing magnetization.     

Critical current oscillations in S/F heterostructures in the presence of s–d scattering

Josephson current is investigated in the superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor junction. It was shown that the current exhibited damping oscillations as a function of the ferromagnetic layer thickness. Previous theories based on Usadel or Eilenberger equations have predicted that the damping length and oscillation period divided by 2π were the same for weak ferromagnetic spacer. This contradicts past experiments. A new calculation of the Josephson current is proposed. The Gorkov equations are solved taking into account s–d scattering in ferromagnet. It is shown that the oscillation period depends only on the exchange magnetic field in the spacer, whereas the damping length is connected to the ferromagnetic mean free path. The concordance with the former experiment allows one to conclude that s–d scattering as a pair-breaking mechanism plays a significant role in the proximity effect in S/F heterostructures.     

TUNNEL MAGNETORESISTANCE IN THE FERROMAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTION WITH FERROMAGNETIC LAYERS OF FINITE THICKNESS SUBJECTED TO AN ELECTRIC FIELD

Based on the two-band model, we investigate the tunnel magnetoresistance(TMR) in ferromagnet/insulator (semiconductor)/ferromagnet(FM/I(S)/FM) tunnel junction covered on both sides by nonmagnetic metal layers subjected to an electric field. Our results show that TMR oscillates with the thickness of ferromagnetic layers owing to the quantum-size effect and can reach very large value under suitable conditions, which may in general not be reached in FM/I(S)/FM with infinitely thick ferromagnetic layer. Although the electric field causes the change of the oscillation period, phase and amplitude of the TMR, a large TMR is still obtained in some situations with the electric field. Furthermore, the electric field does not change the feature that TMR varies monotonously with the change of magnetization angle of the middle ferromagnetic layer.     

Diffusive spin dynamics in ferromagnetic thin films with a Rashba interaction

In a ferromagnetic metal layer, the coupled charge and spin diffusion equations are obtained in the presence of both Rashba spin-orbit interaction and magnetism. The misalignment between the magnetization and the nonequilibrium spin density induced by the Rashba field gives rise to Rashba spin torque acting on the ferromagnetic order parameter. In a general form, we find that the Rashba torque consists of both in-plane and out-of-plane components, i.e., T=T(perpendicular)y^×m^+T(parallel)m^×(y^×m^). Numerical simulations on a two-dimensional nanowire consider the impact of diffusion on the Rashba torque and reveal a large enhancement to the ratio T(parallel)/T(perpendicular) for thin wires. Our theory provides an explanation for the mechanism driving the magnetization switching in a single ferromagnet as observed in the recent experiments.     

磁性d波超导/铁磁/磁性d波超导结中的约瑟夫森效应

通过求解磁性d波超导中的能隙和磁交换能的自洽方程, 研究磁性d波超导/铁磁/磁性d波超导结中的约瑟夫森电流. 计算结果表明: 1)临界电流随中间的铁磁层厚度呈现出两种不同周期的振荡混合, 通过增强铁磁层中的磁交换能q₀和铁磁/磁性d波超导界面处的势垒强度z₀, 短周期分量可从长周期中分离出来, 反之, 通过降低q₀和z₀, 长周期分量可从短周期中分离出来; 2)在两边磁性d波超导的磁化方向取平行时, 在取一些特定的铁磁层厚度下, 磁性d波超导中的磁交换能可增强系统的临界电流. 关键词： 磁性d波超导体 铁磁体 约瑟夫森电流     

Micromagnetic simulation of magnetization reversal in controlled mesoscopic ferromagnetic junction

Magnetisation switching process and corresponding domain structures of mesoscopic ferromagnetic junction with different thickness are studied with micromagnetic simulation using Landau–Lifshiz–Gilbert equations. It is demonstrated by simulation results that the reversal process and switching field are dominated by the wide pad parts and only weakly depend on the wire parts.     

Diffusion of a pulsed field and electromagnetic forces in ferromagnets

Self-similar solutions of the magnetic field distribution in a conducting ferromagnet with a non-linear permeability are considered. The velocity of magnetic field penetration is calculated in various models of ferromagnetic properties of the conductor. Using the Maxwell tensor, equations are derived for bulk forces taking into account the possibility of saturation of the ferromagnet. A numerical solution for the distributions of the magnetic induction and of the density of the bulk force in a ferromagnetic conductor is obtained using the Preisach model taking hysteresis into account.     

Exchange field induced magnetoresistance in colossal magnetoresistance manganites.

The effect of an exchange field on the electrical transport in thin films of metallic ferromagnetic manganites has been investigated. The exchange field was induced both by direct exchange coupling in a ferromagnet/antiferromagnet multilayer and by indirect exchange interaction in a ferromagnet/paramagnet metallic superlattice. The electrical resistance of the metallic manganite layers was found to be determined by the magnitude of the vector sum of the effective exchange field and the external magnetic field.     

Phase transitions in the 2D J 1-J 2 Heisenberg model with arbitrary signs of exchange interactions

The ground state of the J ₁-J ₂ Heisenberg model with arbitrary signs of exchange is studied for spin S = 1/2 in the case of the two-dimensional (2D) square lattice. The states with different types of spin long-range order (antiferromagnetic checkerboard, stripe, collinear ferromagnetic) as well as the disordered spin liquid states are described in the framework of one analytical approach. In particular, it is shown that the phase transition between the ferromagnetic spin liquid and the ferromagnet with long-range order is of the second order. In the vicinity of such transition, we have found the ferromagnetic state with a rapidly varying condensate function.     

Epitaxial ferromagnetic thin films and heterostructures of Mn-based metallic and semiconducting compounds on GaAs

We present two approaches to integrate magnetic materials with III–V semiconductors. One is epitaxial ferromagnetic metallic films and heterostructures on GaAs (0 0 1) substrates. Although crystal structure, lattice constant, chemical bonding and other properties are dissimilar, ferromagnetic hexagonal MnAs thin films and MnAs/NiAs ferromagnet/nonmagnet heterostructures (HSs) are grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Multi-stepped magnetic hysteresis are controllably realized in MnAs/NiAs HSs, making this material promising for the application to multi-level nonvolatile recording on semiconductors. The other approach is to prepare a new class of GaAs based magnetic semiconductor, GaMnAs, by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy (LT-MBE) on GaAs (0 0 1). New III–V based superlattices consisting of ferromagnetic semiconductor GaMnAs and nonmagnetic semiconductor AlAs are also successfully grown. Structural and magnetic properties of these new heterostructures are presented.     

Absence of an equilibrium ferromagnetic spin-glass phase in three dimensions

Using ground state computations, we study the transition from a spin glass to a ferromagnet in 3D spin glasses when changing the mean value of the spin-spin interaction. We find good evidence for replica symmetry breaking up until the critical value where ferromagnetic ordering sets in, and no ferromagnetic spin glass phase. This phase diagram is in conflict with the droplet/scaling and mean field theories of spin glasses. We also find that the exponents of the second order ferromagnetic transition do not depend on the microscopic Hamiltonian, suggesting universality of this transition.     

Creation of an antiferromagnetic exchange spring

We present evidence for the creation of an exchange spring in an antiferromagnet due to exchange coupling to a ferromagnet. X-ray magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy on single crystal Co/NiO(001) shows that a partial domain wall is wound up at the surface of the antiferromagnet when the adjacent ferromagnet is rotated by a magnetic field. We determine the interface exchange stiffness and the antiferromagnetic domain wall energy from the field dependence of the direction of the antiferromagnetic axis, the antiferromagnetic pendant to a ferromagnetic hysteresis loop. The existence of a planar antiferromagnetic domain wall, proven by our measurement, is a key assumption of most exchange bias models.     

Controlled normal and inverse current-induced magnetization switching and magnetoresistance in magnetic nanopillars

By combining pairs of ferromagnetic metals with the same or different signs of scattering anisotropies in ferromagnetic-nonmagnetic-ferromagnetic metal nanopillars, we independently invert just the magnetoresistance, just the direction of current-induced magnetization switching, or both together, at room temperature (295 K) and at 4.2 K. In all cases studied, the switching direction is correctly predicted from the net scattering anisotropy of the fixed ferromagnet, including both bulk and interfacial contributions.     

Piezo‐voltage control of magnetization orientation in a ferromagnetic semiconductor

The possibility to control magnetic properties via electrical fields is investigated in a piezoelectric actuator/ferromagnetic semiconductor thin film hybrid structure. Using anisotropic magnetoresistance techniques, the magnetic anisotropy and the magnetization orientation within the plane of the ferromagnetic film are measured quantitatively. The experiments reveal that the application of an electrical field to the piezoelectric actuator allows to continuously and reversibly rotate the magnetization orientation in the ferromagnet by about 70°. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Voltage generation by ferromagnetic resonance at a nonmagnet to ferromagnet contact

A ferromagnet can resonantly absorb rf radiation to sustain a steady precession of the magnetization around an internal or applied magnetic field. We show that, under these ferromagnetic resonance conditions, a dc voltage is generated at a normal-metal electric contact to a ferromagnet with spin-flip scattering. The spin dynamics in the nonmagnetic region is accounted for by a frequency-dependent renormalization of the interface conductances. This mechanism allows sensing of time-dependent magnetizations by established dc electronic techniques.     

Ferromagnetic features of zero-bias conductance peaks in a ferromagnet/insulator/superconductor junction

We present a general formula for tunneling conductance in ballistic ferromagnet/ferromagnetic insulator/superconductor junctions where the superconducting state has the opposite spin pairing symmetry. The formula shows, correctly, that ferromagnetism has been induced by the effective mass difference between up- and down-spin electrons. This effectively mass mismatched ferromagnet and a standard Stoner ferromagnet have been employed in this paper. As an application of the formulation, we have studied the tunneling effect for junctions including a spin-triplet p-wave superconductor, where we choose a normal insulator for the insulating region, although our formula can be used for a ferromagnetic insulator. Then, we have been able to devote our attention to features of a ferromagnetic metal. The conductance spectra show a clear difference between the two ferromagnets depending upon the method of normalization of the conductance. In particular, an essential difference is seen in the zero-bias conductance peaks, reflecting the characteristics of each ferromagnet. From the obtained results, we suggest that the measurements of the tunneling conductance in the junction provide us with useful information about the mechanism of itinerant ferromagnetism in metals.     

Structure of the inhomogeneous magnetic state of an FeBO<Subscript>3</Subscript>: Mg easy-plane weak ferromagnet

The magnetic linear birefringence of an FeBO₃: Mg ferromagnetic crystal is investigated as a function of the magnetic field strength, the magnetic field orientation, and the coordinates. The structure of the inhomogeneous magnetic phase of this weak ferromagnet is determined by analyzing the experimental results obtained. It is shown that, in an inhomogeneous magnetic state, the ferromagnetic moment does not deviate from the basal plane of the crystal and the angle of its deviation from the direction of the applied magnetic field is described by a one-dimensional harmonic function of the spatial coordinate along the axis of magnetization.     

Modeling of magnetically controlled Si-based optoelectronic devices

We present a theoretical analysis and results of modeling of a new integrated device for spintronics application, which is based on a hybrid metal–semiconductor structure. The proposed device consists of a Si-based p–i–n photodetector sandwiched between two layers of a ferromagnetic metal (3d ferromagnet or half-metallic compound). Electron–hole pairs are created in the semiconductor part of the structure by light illumination. The photocurrent flowing in such a system is shown to depend on its magnetic configuration. This is due to a difference in the specular reflection (as well as in the diffuse scattering) of spin-up and spin-down electrons and holes from magnetically polarized layers—similar to giant magnetoresistance effect in magnetic multilayers. This, in turn, allows controlling the device performance by an externally applied magnetic field. We have estimated magnitude of the effect and also determined the role of relevant material parameters.