Protecting nickel with graphene spin-filtering membranes: A single layer is enough

We report on the demonstration of ferromagnetic spin injectors for spintronics which are protected against oxidation through passivation by a single layer of graphene. The graphene monolayer is directly grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition on pre-patterned nickel electrodes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that even with its monoatomic thickness, monolayer graphene still efficiently protects spin sources against oxidation in ambient air. The resulting single layer passivated electrodes are integrated into spin valves and demonstrated to act as spin polarizers. Strikingly, the atom-thick graphene layer is shown to be sufficient to induce a characteristic spin filtering effect evidenced through the sign reversal of the measured magnetoresistance.We acknowledge the Helmholtz-Zentrum-Berlin Electron storage ring BESSY II for provision of synchrotron radiation at the ISISS beamline and we thank the BESSY staff for continuous support of our experiments. R.S.W. acknowledges a Research Fellowship from St. John’s College, Cambridge. S.H. acknowledges funding from ERC grant InsituNANO (No. 279342) and EPSRC grant GRAPHTED (EP/K016636/1). P.S. acknowledges the Institut Universitaire de France for a junior fellowship. This research was partially supported by the EU FP7 Work Programme under Grant GRAFOL (No. 285275) and Graphene Flagship (No. 604391).This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/107/1/10.1063/1.4923401

Spin filtering by proximity effects at hybridized interfaces in spin-valves with 2D graphene barriers.

We report on spin transport in state-of-the-art epitaxial monolayer graphene based 2D-magnetic tunnel junctions (2D-MTJs). In our measurements, supported by ab-initio calculations, the strength of interaction between ferromagnetic electrodes and graphene monolayers is shown to fundamentally control the resulting spin signal. In particular, by switching the graphene/ferromagnet interaction, spin transport reveals magneto-resistance signal MR > 80% in junctions with low resistance × area products. Descriptions based only on a simple K-point filtering picture (i.e. MR increase with the number of layers) are not sufficient to predict the behavior of our devices. We emphasize that hybridization effects need to be taken into account to fully grasp the spin properties (such as spin dependent density of states) when 2D materials are used as ultimately thin interfaces. While this is only a first demonstration, we thus introduce the fruitful potential of spin manipulation by proximity effect at the hybridized 2D material / ferromagnet interface for 2D-MTJs

Path to overcome material and fundamental obstacles in spin valves based on Mo S2 and other transition-metal dichalcogenides

Experimental studies on spin valves with exfoliated 2D materials face the main technological issue of ferromagnetic electrode oxidation during the 2Ds integration process. As a twofold outcome, magnetoresistance (MR) signals are very difficult to obtain and, when they finally are, they are often far from expectations. We propose a fabrication method to circumvent this key issue for 2D-based spintronics devices. We report on the fabrication of NiFe/MoS2/Co spin valves with mechanically exfoliated multilayer MoS2 using an in situ fabrication protocol that allows high-quality nonoxidized interfaces to be maintained between the ferromagnetic electrodes and the 2D layer. Devices display a large MR of 5%. Beyond interfaces and material quality, we suggest that an overlooked more fundamental physics issue related to spin-current depolarization could explain the limited MR observed so far in MoS2-based magnetic tunnel junctions. This points to a path towards the observation of larger spin signals in line with theoretical predictions above 100%. We envision the impact of our work to be beyond MoS2 and its broader transition-metal dichalcogenides family by opening the way to an accelerated screening of other 2D materials that are yet to be explored for spintronics

Enhancing light emission in interface engineered spin-OLEDs through spin-polarized injection at high voltages

The quest for a spin-polarized organic light emitting diode (spin-OLED) is a common goal in the emerging fields of molecular electronics and spintronics. In this device two ferromagnetic electrodes are used to enhance the electroluminescence intensity of the OLED through a magnetic control of the spin polarization of the injected carriers. The major difficulty is that the driving voltage of an OLED device exceeds of a few volts, while spin injection in organic materials is only efficient at low voltages. We report here the fabrication of a spin-OLED that uses a conjugated polymer as bipolar spin collector layer and ferromagnetic electrodes. Through a careful engineering of the organic/inorganic interfaces we have succeeded in obtaining a light-emitting device showing spin-valve effects at high voltages (up to 14 V). This has allowed us to detect a magneto-electroluminescence enhancement on the order of a 2.4 % at 9 V for the antiparallel configuration of the magnetic electrodes. This observation provides evidence for the long-standing fundamental issue of injecting spins from magnetic electrodes into the frontier levels of a molecular semiconductor. Our finding opens the way for the design of multifunctional devices coupling the light and the spin degrees of freedom

Hybrid Interfaces in Molecular Spintronics

Molecular/inorganic multilayer heterostructures are gaining attention in molecular electronics and more recently in new generation spintronic devices. The intrinsic properties of molecular materials as low cost, tuneability, or long spin lifetimes were the original reasons behind their implementation. However, the non-innocent role played by these hybrid interfaces is a determinant factor in the device performance. In this account we will give an overview about different types of hybrid molecular system/ferromagnet interfaces, which can be of direct application in molecular spintronics. This includes the insertion of a 2D material in between the molecular system and the ferromagnet. As perspective, new hybrid interfaces able to tune the spin properties under an external stimulus, are proposed. These smart interfaces, based on switchable magnetic molecules or flexible MOFs, can open the way to new multifunctional spintronic devices able to couple the spin with a second property

Stabilizing a graphene platform toward discrete components

© 2016 Author(s).We report on statistical analysis and consistency of electrical performances of devices based on a large scale passivated graphene platform. More than 500 graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) based on graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition and transferred on 4 in. SiO2/Si substrates were fabricated and tested. We characterized the potential of a two-step encapsulation process including an Al2O3 protection layer to avoid graphene contamination during the lithographic process followed by a final Al2O3 passivation layer subsequent to the GFET fabrication. Devices were investigated for occurrence and reproducibility of conductance minimum related to the Dirac point. While no conductance minimum was observed in unpassivated devices, 75% of the passivated transistors exhibited a clear conductance minimum and low hysteresis. The maximum of the device number distribution corresponds to a residual doping below 5 × 1011 cm−2 (0.023 V/nm). This yield shows that GFETs integrating low-doped graphene and exhibiting small hysteresis in the transfer characteristics can be envisaged for discrete components, with even further potential for low power driven electronics.This study was partly funded by the European Union through the projects Grafol (No. 285275) and Graphene Flagship (No. 604391 and Core1 No. 696656)

Spin filtering by proximity effects at hybridized interfaces in spin-valves with 2D graphene barriers

We report on spin transport in state-of-the-art epitaxial monolayer graphene based 2D-magnetic tunnel junctions (2D-MTJs). In our measurements, supported by ab-initio calculations, the strength of interaction between ferromagnetic electrodes and graphene monolayers is shown to fundamentally control the resulting spin signal. In particular, by switching the graphene/ferromagnet interaction, spin transport reveals magneto-resistance signal MR > 80% in junctions with low resistance × area products. Descriptions based only on a simple K-point filtering picture (i.e. MR increase with the number of layers) are not sufficient to predict the behavior of our devices. We emphasize that hybridization effects need to be taken into account to fully grasp the spin properties (such as spin dependent density of states) when 2D materials are used as ultimately thin interfaces. While this is only a first demonstration, we thus introduce the fruitful potential of spin manipulation by proximity effect at the hybridized 2D material / ferromagnet interface for 2D-MTJs