12 research outputs found
Large microwave generation from d.c. driven magnetic vortex oscillators in magnetic tunnel junctions
Spin polarized current can excite the magnetization of a ferromagnet through
the transfer of spin angular momentum to the local spin system. This pure
spin-related transport phenomena leads to alluring possibilities for the
achievement of a nanometer scale, CMOS compatible and tunable microwave
generator operating at low bias for future wireless communications. Microwave
emission generated by the persitent motion of magnetic vortices induced by spin
transfer effect seems to be a unique manner to reach appropriate spectral
linewidth. However, in metallic systems, where such vortex oscillations have
been observed, the resulting microwave power is much too small. Here we present
experimental evidences of spin-transfer induced core vortex precessions in
MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions with similar good spectral quality but an
emitted power at least one order of magnitude stronger. More importantly,
unlike to others spin transfer excitations, the thorough comparison between
experimental results and models provide a clear textbook illustration of the
mechanisms of vortex precessions induced by spin transfer
Polarons and confinement of electronic motion to two dimensions in a layered transition metal oxide
A very remarkable feature of the layered transition metal oxides (TMOs),
whose most famous members are the high-temperature superconductors (HTSs), is
that even though they are prepared as bulk three-dimensional single crystals,
they display hugely anisotropic electrical and optical properties, seeming to
be insulating perpendicular to the layers and metallic within them. This is the
phenomenon of confinement, a concept at odds with the conventional theory of
solids and recognized as due to magnetic and electron-lattice interactions in
the layers which must be overcome at a substantial energy cost if electrons are
to be transferred between layers. The associated energy gap or 'pseudogap' is
particularly obvious in experiments where charge is moved perpendicular to the
planes, most notably scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and polarized infrared
spectroscopy. Here, using the same experimental tools, we show that there is a
second family of TMOs - the layered manganites La2-2xSr1+2xMn2O7 (LSMO) - with
even more extreme confinement and pseudogap effects. The data, which are the
first to resolve atoms in any metallic manganite, demonstrate quantitatively
that because they are attached to polarons - lattice and spin textures within
the planes -, it is equally difficult to remove carriers from the planes via
vacuum tunneling into a conventional metallic tip, as it is for them to move
between Mn-rich layers within the material itself