5 research outputs found
A spintronic source of circularly polarized single photons
We present a spintronic single photon source which emits circularly polarized
light, where the helicity is determined by an applied magnetic field. Photons
are emitted from an InGaAs quantum dot inside an electrically operated spin
light-emitting diode, which comprises the diluted magnetic semiconductor
ZnMnSe. The circular polarization degree of the emitted light is high, reaching
83% at an applied magnetic field of 2T and 96% at 6 T. Autocorrelation traces
recorded in pulsed operation mode prove the emitted light to be antibunched.
The two circular polarization states could be used for representing quantum
states |0> and |1> in quantum cryptography implementations
Vortex states in patterned exchange biased NiO/Ni samples
We investigated the magnetization reversal of arrays of exchange biased
NiO/Ni squares with superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry
and micromagnetic simulations. The edges of the squares were 0.5, 1.5, and 3.0
m long. The NiO/Ni structures exhibit vortexlike hysteresis loops and
micromagnetic calculations show that this feature is due to several vortices
nucleating in the islands. Furthermore, for the arrays with squares of 1.5
m edge length, the sign of the exchange bias field changes, as compared to
the same continuous NiO/Ni layer. We attribute the vortex nucleation and the
change of the exchange bias field to the interplay between shape and
unidirectional anisotropy.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Magnetoresistance in Co-hBN-NiFe tunnel junctions enhanced by resonant tunneling through single defects in ultrathin hBN barriers
Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a prototypical high-quality two-dimensional
insulator and an ideal material to study tunneling phenomena, as it can be
easily integrated in vertical van der Waals devices. For spintronic devices,
its potential has been demonstrated both for efficient spin injection in
lateral spin valves and as a barrier in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Here
we reveal the effect of point defects inevitably present in mechanically
exfoliated hBN on the tunnel magnetoresistance of Co-hBN-NiFe MTJs. We observe
a clear enhancement of both the conductance and magnetoresistance of the
junction at well-defined bias voltages, indicating resonant tunneling through
magnetic (spin-polarized) defect states. The spin polarization of the defect
states is attributed to exchange coupling of a paramagnetic impurity in the
few-atomic-layer thick hBN to the ferromagnetic electrodes. This is confirmed
by excellent agreement with theoretical modelling. Our findings should be taken
into account in analyzing tunneling processes in hBN-based magnetic devices.
More generally, our study shows the potential of using atomically thin hBN
barriers with defects to engineer the magnetoresistance of MTJs and to achieve
spin filtering, opening the door towards exploiting the spin degree of freedom
in current studies of point defects as quantum emitters