155,491 research outputs found
Strong Hall voltage modulation in hybrid ferromagnet/semiconductor microstructures
We present a new magnetoelectronic device consisting of a µm-scale semiconductor cross junction and a patterned, electrically isolated, ferromagnetic overlayer with in-plane magnetization. The large local magnetic field emanating from the edge of the thin ferromagnetic film has a strong perpendicular magnetic component, B[perpendicular](r), which induces a Hall resistance, RH, in the microjunction. External application of a weak in-plane magnetic field reverses the magnetization of the ferromagnet and with it B[perpendicular](r), thus modulating RH. Our data demonstrate that this strong "local" Hall effect is operative at both cryogenic and room temperatures, and is promising for device applications such as field sensors or integrated nonvolatile memory cells
What constitutes a nanoswitch? A Perspective
Progress in the last two decades has effectively integrated spintronics and
nanomagnetics into a single field, creating a new class of spin-based devices
that are now being used both to Read (R) information from magnets and to Write
(W) information onto magnets. Many other new phenomena are being investigated
for nano-electronic memory as described in Part II of this book. It seems
natural to ask whether these advances in memory devices could also translate
into a new class of logic devices.
What makes logic devices different from memory is the need for one device to
drive another and this calls for gain, directionality and input-output
isolation as exemplified by the transistor. With this in mind we will try to
present our perspective on how W and R devices in general, spintronic or
otherwise, could be integrated into transistor-like switches that can be
interconnected to build complex circuits without external amplifiers or clocks.
We will argue that the most common switch used to implement digital logic based
on complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors can be viewed as
an integrated W-R unit having an input-output asymmetry that give it gain and
directionality. Such a viewpoint is not intended to provide any insight into
the operation of CMOS switches, but rather as an aid to understanding how W and
R units based on spins and magnets can be combined to build transistor-like
switches. Next we will discuss the standard W and R units used for magnetic
memory devices and present one way to integrate them into a single unit with
the input electrically isolated from the output. But we argue that this
integrated W-R unit would not provide the key property of gain. We will then
show that the recently discovered giant spin Hall effect could be used to
construct a W-R unit with gain and suggest other possibilities for spin
switches with gain.Comment: 27 pages. To appear in Emerging Nanoelectronic Devices, Editors: An
Chen, James Hutchby, Victor Zhirnov and George Bourianoff, John Wiley & Sons
(to be published
Film Edge Nonlocal Spin Valves
Spintronics is a new paradigm for integrated digital electronics. Recently
established as a niche for nonvolatile magnetic random access memory (MRAM), it
offers new functionality while demonstrating low power and high speed
performance. However, to reach high density spintronic technology must make a
transition to the nanometer scale. Prototype devices are presently made using a
planar geometry and have an area determined by the lithographic feature size,
currently about 100 nm. Here we present a new nonplanar geometry in which one
lateral dimension is given by a film thickness, the order of 10 nm. With this
new approach, cell sizes can shrink by an order of magnitude. The geometry is
demonstrated with a nonlocal spin valve, where we study devices with an
injector/detector separation much less than the spin diffusion length.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Transistor-Like Spin Nano-Switches: Physics and Applications
Progress in the last two decades has effectively integrated spintronics and nanomagnetics into a single field, creating a new class of spin-based devices that are now being widely used in magnetic memory devices. However, it is not clear if these advances could also be used to build logic devices
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Magnetic Memory with Antiferromagnets and Multilayers
In the next 10 years, the demand for data storage will increase exponentially until current storage methods are economically untenable. The speed and energy efficiency of digital memory will need to be improved by at least a factor of 100-10,000 times. Magnetic memory offers a major energy efficiency improvement (> 100 times) because it can be integrated with voltage-controlled switching methods, like multiferroicity (i.e. strain-coupling), but it is also unfortunately speed limited by the material’s ferromagnetic resonance. To surpass the speed limit, ferromagnetic materials can be substituted by magnetic multilayers or antiferromagnets, since their resonances are 10-1000 times higher. However, further work is required to integrate these under-studied materials into the necessary highly energy efficient multiferroic control schemes. In this dissertation, three main problems are addressed regarding voltage control of multilayers and antiferromagnets. First, the level of exchange coupling and magnetic property averaging in multilayers is not well understood. In this dissertation, a novel micromagnetic simulation of multilayer is presented that includes a distinct multilayer exchange coupling term, and the model’s predictions are compared to experimental magnetic depth profiles obtained via neutron scattering. Second, a deficiency in the literature regarding strain control of antiferromagnets is corrected by presenting a new antiferromagnetic magneto-electro-mechanical model that predicts both near THz and aJ-level energy costs for switching. Finally, the first experimental test to measure strain-induced anisotropy in antiferromagnets is presented, showing that small strains (around 300 με) produces magnetoresistance changes similar to those observed when 3 Tesla of external magnetic field is applied. This work should provide new pathways to simulate and integrate next-generation materials choices into magnetic memory
Field-free deterministic ultra fast creation of skyrmions by spin orbit torques
Magnetic skyrmions are currently the most promising option to realize
current-driven magnetic shift registers. A variety of concepts to create
skyrmions were proposed and demonstrated. However, none of the reported
experiments show controlled creation of single skyrmions using integrated
designs. Here, we demonstrate that skyrmions can be generated deterministically
on subnanosecond timescales in magnetic racetracks at artificial or natural
defects using spin orbit torque (SOT) pulses. The mechanism is largely similar
to SOT-induced switching of uniformly magnetized elements, but due to the
effect of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), external fields are not
required. Our observations provide a simple and reliable means for skyrmion
writing that can be readily integrated into racetrack devices
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