Magnetoresistance signature of resonant states in electromigrated Ni nanocontacts

Fundamental insight is reported into magnetoresistance properties of ballistic-type atomic size Ni nanojunctions obtained at low temperatures. Feedback-controlled electromigration was used to reveal the ballistic nature of the transport and stabilize samples of conductance values in the range of G(0) (G(0) = 2e(2)/h). Bias voltage dependent measurements identify a clear magnetoresistance fingerprint of resonant tunneling, revealing that localized states in the nanojunctions can be responsible for nonlinear behavior in the IV curves and the related magnetoresistance properties. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3576939

Magnetoconductance anisotropy of a polymer thin film at the onset of metallicity

Thin films of poly(2,5-bis(3-dodecyl-2-yl)-thieno[3,2-b] thiophene) (C12-PBTTT) polymer under electrolyte gating and doping are investigated as model systems for organic thin films devices approaching the metallic side of a metal-insulator (M-I) transition. For the most doped samples, with an estimated density reaching 8 x 10(20) cm(-3) holes and a conductivity exceeding 1000 S cm(-1), a positive high-field magnetoconductance is found in a limited temperature range window and only when the field is perpendicular to the sample plane. This signature of weak localization, combined with indications of finite zero-temperature conductivity, allows us to identify delocalized metallic-like transport in these thin films, even though the conductivity decreases when cooling down the samples. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

Tuning a sign of magnetoelectric coupling in paramagnetic NH2(CH3)(2)Al1-xCrx(SO4)(2) x 6H(2)O crystals by metal ion substitution

Hybrid organometallic systems offer a wide range of functionalities, including magnetoelectric (ME) interactions. However, the ability to design on-demand ME coupling remains challenging despite a variety of host-guest configurations and ME phases coexistence possibilities. Here, we report the effect of metal-ion substitution on the magnetic and electric properties in the paramagnetic ferroelectric NH2(CH3)(2)Al1-xCrx(SO4)(2) x 6H(2)O. Doing so we are able to induce and even tune a sign of the ME interactions, in the paramagnetic ferroelectric (FE) state. Both studied samples with x = 0.065 and x = 0.2 become paramagnetic, contrary to the initial diamagnetic compound. Due to the isomorphous substitution with Cr the ferroelectric phase transition temperature (T-c) increases nonlinearly, with the shift being larger for the 6.5% of Cr. A magnetic field applied along the polar c axis increases ferroelectricity for the x = 0.065 sample and shifts Tc to higher values, while inverse effects are observed for x = 0.2. The ME coupling coefficient alpha(ME) = 1.7 ns/m found for a crystal with Cr content of x = 0.2 is among the highest reported up to now. The observed sign change of aME with a small change in Cr content paves the way for ME coupling engineering

Current crowding issues on nanoscale planar organic transistors for spintronic applications

The predominance of interface resistance makes current crowding ubiquitous in short channel organic electronics devices but its impact on spin transport has never been considered. We investigate electrochemically doped nanoscale PBTTT short channel devices and observe the smallest reported values of crowding lengths, found for sub-100 nm electrodes separation. These observed values are nevertheless exceeding the spin diffusion lengths reported in the literature. We discuss here how current crowding can be taken into account in the framework of the Fert–Jaffrès model of spin current propagation in heterostructures, and predict that the anticipated resulting values of magnetoresistance can be significantly reduced. Current crowding therefore impacts spin transport applications and interpretation of the results on spin valve devices

Co-tunneling Enhancement of the Electrical Response of Nanoparticle Networks

A co-tunneling charge-transfer process dominates the electrical properties of a nanometer-sized slice in a nanoparticle network, which results in universal scaling of the conductance with temperature and bias voltage, as well as enhanced spintronics properties. By designing two large (10 mu m) electrodes with short (60 nm) separation, access is obtained to transport dominated by charge transfer involving nanoslices made of three nanoparticles only. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle networks exhibit a magnetoresistance ratio that is not reachable by tunneling or hopping processes, thereby illustrating how such a size-matched planar device with dominant co-tunneling charge-transfer process is optimal for realizing multifunctional devices with enhanced change of conductance under external stimulus

Conductivity in organic semiconductors hybridized with the vacuum field

Much effort over the past decades has been focused on improving carrier mobility in organic thin-film transistors by optimizing the organization of the material or the device architecture. Here we take a different path to solving this problem, by injecting carriers into states that are hybridized to the vacuum electromagnetic field. To test this idea, organic semiconductors were strongly coupled to plasmonic modes to form coherent states that can extend over as many as 105 molecules and should thereby favour conductivity. Experiments show that indeed the current does increase by an order of magnitude at resonance in the coupled state, reflecting mostly a change in field-effect mobility. A theoretical quantum model confirms the delocalization of thewavefunctions of the hybridized states and its effect on the conductivity. Our findings illustrate the potential of engineering the vacuum electromagnetic environment to modify and to improve properties of materials.Comment in : Organic electronics: Something out of nothing. [Nat Mater. 2015

Spin Transition in Arrays of Gold Nanoparticles and Spin Crossover Molecules

We investigate if the functionality of spin crossover molecules is preserved when they are assembled into an interfacial device structure. Specifically, we prepare and investigate gold nanoparticle arrays, into which room-temperature spin crossover molecules are introduced, more precisely, [Fe(AcS-BPP)2](ClO4)2, where AcS-BPP = (S)-(4-{[2,6-(dipyrazol-1-yl)pyrid 4-yl]ethynyl}phenyl)ethanethioate (in short, Fe(S-BPP)2). We combine three complementary experiments to characterize the molecule–nanoparticle structure in detail. Temperature-dependent Raman measurements provide direct evidence for a (partial) spin transition in the Fe(S-BPP)2-based arrays. This transition is qualitatively confirmed by magnetization measurements. Finally, charge transport measurements on the Fe(S-BPP)2-gold nanoparticle devices reveal a minimum in device resistance versus temperature, R(T), curves around 260–290 K. This is in contrast to similar networks containing passive molecules only that show monotonically decreasing R(T) characteristics. Backed by density functional theory calculations on single molecular conductance values for both spin states, we propose to relate the resistance minimum in R(T) to a spin transition under the hypothesis that (1) the molecular resistance of the high spin state is larger than that of the low spin state and (2) transport in the array is governed by a percolation model