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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Steady-state domain wall motion driven by adiabatic spin-transfer torque with assistance of microwave field

We have studied the current-induced displacement of a 180° Bloch wall by means of micromagnetic simulation and analytical approach. It is found that the adiabatic spin-transfer torque can sustain a steady-state domain wall (DW) motion in the direction opposite to that of the electron flow without Walker Breakdown when a transverse microwave field is applied. This kind of motion is very sensitive to the microwave frequency and can be resonantly enhanced by exciting the domain wall thickness oscillation mode. A one-dimensional analytical model was established to account for the microwave-assisted wall motion. These findings may be helpful for reducing the critical spin-polarized current density and designing DW-based spintronic devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tailoring the coercivity in ferromagnetic ZnO thin films by 3d and 4f elements codoping

Cluster free, Co (3d) and Eu (4f) doped ZnO thin films were prepared using ion implantation technique accompanied by post annealing treatments. Compared with the mono-doped ZnO thin films, the samples codoped with Co and Eu exhibit a stronger magnetization with a giant coercivity of 1200 Oe at ambient temperature. This was further verified through x-ray magnetic circular dichroism analysis, revealing the exchange interaction between the Co 3d electrons and the localized carriers induced by Eu{sup 3+} ions codoping. The insight gained with modulating coercivity in magnetic oxides opens up an avenue for applications requiring non-volatility in spintronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Bulk and surface half-metallicity: The case of D0{sub 3}-type Mn{sub 3}Ge

Motivated by the experimental realization of D0{sub 22}-type Mn{sub 3}Ge (001) films [Kurt et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 132410 (2012)] and the structural stability of D0{sub 3}-type Heusler alloy Mn{sub 3}Ge [Zhang et al. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25, 206006 (2013)], we use the first-principles calculations based on the full potential linearized augmented plane-wave method to investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of D0{sub 3}-type Heusler alloy Mn{sub 3}Ge and its (001) surface. We show that bulk D0{sub 3}-Mn{sub 3}Ge is a half-metallic ferromagnet with the minority-spin energy gap of 0.52 eV and the magnetic moment of 1.00 μ{sub B} per formula unit. The bulk half-metallicity is preserved at the pure Mn-terminated (001) surface due to the large exchange split, but the MnGe-terminated (001) surface destroys the bulk half-metallicity. We also reveal that the surface stabilities are comparable between the D0{sub 3}-Mn{sub 3}Ge (001) and the experimental D0{sub 22}-Mn{sub 3}Ge (001), which indicates the feasibility to grow the Mn{sub 3}Ge (001) films with D0{sub 3} phase other than D0{sub 22} one. The surface half-metallicity and stability make D0{sub 3}-Mn{sub 3}Ge a promising candidate for spintronic applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tuning spin transport properties and molecular magnetoresistance through contact geometry

Molecular spintronics seeks to unite the advantages of using organic molecules as nanoelectronic components, with the benefits of using spin as an additional degree of freedom. For technological applications, an important quantity is the molecular magnetoresistance. In this work, we show that this parameter is very sensitive to the contact geometry. To demonstrate this, we perform ab initio calculations, combining the non-equilibrium Green's function method with density functional theory, on a dithienylethene molecule placed between spin-polarized nickel leads of varying geometries. We find that, in general, the magnetoresistance is significantly higher when the contact is made to sharp tips than to flat surfaces. Interestingly, this holds true for both resonant and tunneling conduction regimes, i.e., when the molecule is in its “closed” and “open” conformations, respectively. We find that changing the lead geometry can increase the magnetoresistance by up to a factor of ∼5. We also introduce a simple model that, despite requiring minimal computational time, can recapture our ab initio results for the behavior of magnetoresistance as a function of bias voltage. This model requires as its input only the density of states on the anchoring atoms, at zero bias voltage. We also find that the non-resonant conductance in the open conformation of the molecule is significantly impacted by the lead geometry. As a result, the ratio of the current in the closed and open conformations can also be tuned by varying the geometry of the leads, and increased by ∼400%.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Oxygen vacancies induced switchable and nonswitchable photovoltaic effects in Ag/Bi{sub 0.9}La{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3} /La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} sandwiched capacitors

The short circuit photocurrent (I{sub sc}) was found to be strongly dependent on the oxygen vacancies (V{sub Os}) distribution in Ag/Bi{sub 0.9}La{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3}/La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} heterostructures. In order to manipulate the V{sub Os} accumulated at either the Ag/Bi{sub 0.9}La{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3} or the Bi{sub 0.9}La{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3}/La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} interface by pulse voltages, switchable or nonswitchable photocurrent can be observed without or with changing the polarization direction. The sign of photocurrent could be independent of the direction of polarization when the variation of diffusion current and the modulation of the Schottky barrier at the Ag/Bi{sub 0.9}La{sub 0.1}FeO{sub 3} interface induced by oxygen vacancies are large enough to offset those induced by polarization. Our work provides deep insights into the nature of photovoltaic effects in ferroelectric films, and will facilitate the advanced design of switchable devices combining spintronic, electronic, and optical functionalities.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Morphology and Curie temperature engineering in crystalline La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} films on Si by pulsed laser deposition

Of all the colossal magnetoresistant manganites, La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} (LSMO) exhibits magnetic and electronic state transitions above room temperature, and therefore holds immense technological potential in spintronic devices and hybrid heterojunctions. As the first step towards this goal, it needs to be integrated with silicon via a well-defined process that provides morphology and phase control, along with reproducibility. This work demonstrates the development of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) process parameter regimes for dense and columnar morphology LSMO films directly on Si. These regimes are postulated on the foundations of a pressure-distance scaling law and their limits are defined post experimental validation. The laser spot size is seen to play an important role in tandem with the pressure-distance scaling law to provide morphology control during LSMO deposition on lattice-mismatched Si substrate. Additionally, phase stability of the deposited films in these regimes is evaluated through magnetometry measurements and the Curie temperatures obtained are 349 K (for dense morphology) and 355 K (for columnar morphology)—the highest reported for LSMO films on Si so far. X-ray diffraction studies on phase evolution with variation in laser energy density and substrate temperature reveals the emergence of texture. Quantitative limits for all the key PLD process parameters are demonstrated in order enable morphological and structural engineering of LSMO films deposited directly on Si. These results are expected to boost the realization of top-down and bottom-up LSMO device architectures on the Si platform for a variety of applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Multi-state magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/organic-ferromagnet/ferromagnet junctions

Spin-dependent transport through a ferromagnetic metal/organic-ferromagnet/ferromagnet metal junction is investigated theoretically. It is demonstrated that the current through the device strongly depends on the alignment of the magnetization orientations of the electrodes and interlayer. The spin-related electron tunnelling between the ferromagnetic electrodes suffers a further spin selection induced by the spin-polarized states of the central organic ferromagnet. This work indicates an intriguing prospect of organic ferromagnets in spintronic devices, such as four-state magnetoresistance manipulated by a magnetic field.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Contact-induced spin polarization of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride on Ni(111)

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising barrier material for graphene spintronics. In this Letter, spin-polarized metastable de-excitation spectroscopy (SPMDS) is employed to study the spin-dependent electronic structure of monolayer h-BN/Ni(111). The extreme surface sensitivity of SPMDS enables us to elucidate a partial filling of the in-gap states of h-BN without any superposition of Ni 3d signals. The in-gap states are shown to have a considerable spin polarization parallel to the majority spin of Ni. The positive spin polarization is attributed to the π-d hybridization and the effective spin transfer to the nitrogen atoms at the h-BN/Ni(111) interface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

High quality SiC microdisk resonators fabricated from monolithic epilayer wafers

The exquisite mechanical properties of SiC have made it an important industrial material with applications in microelectromechanical devices and high power electronics. Recently, the optical properties of SiC have garnered attention for applications in photonics, quantum information, and spintronics. This work demonstrates the fabrication of microdisks formed from a p-N SiC epilayer material. The microdisk cavities fabricated from the SiC epilayer material exhibit quality factors of as high as 9200 and the approach is easily adaptable to the fabrication of SiC-based photonic crystals and other photonic and optomechanical devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Mixing antiferromagnets to tune NiFe-[IrMn/FeMn] interfacial spin-glasses, grains thermal stability, and related exchange bias properties

Spintronics devices and in particular thermally assisted magnetic random access memories require a wide range of ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic (F/AF) exchange bias (EB) properties and subsequently of AF materials to fulfil diverse functionality requirements for the reference and storage. For the reference layer, large EB energies and high blocking temperature (T{sub B}) are required. In contrast, for the storage layer, mostly moderate T{sub B} are needed. One of the present issues is to find a storage layer with properties intermediate between those of IrMn and FeMn and in particular: (i) with a T{sub B} larger than FeMn for better stability at rest-T but lower than IrMn to reduce power consumption at write-T and (ii) with improved magnetic interfacial quality, i.e., with reduced interfacial glassy character for lower properties dispersions. To address this issue, the EB properties of F/AF based stacks were studied for various mixed [IrMn/FeMn] AFs. In addition to EB loop shifts, the F/AF magnetic interfacial qualities and the AF grains thermal stability are probed via measurements of the low- and high-temperature contributions to the T{sub B} distributions, respectively. A tuning of the above three parameters is observed when evolving from IrMn to FeMn via [IrMn/FeMn] repetitions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic properties of transition metal doped AlN nanosheet: First-principle studies

We carry out our first-principles calculations within density functional theory to study the 3d transition metal (TM) doped AlN nanosheets. The calculated results indicate that a stoichiometric AlN nanosheet is graphene-like structure and nonmagnetic. The TM impurities can induce magnetic moments, localized mainly on the 3d TM atoms and neighboring N atoms. Our calculated results of TM-doped nanosheet systems indicate a strong interaction between 3d orbit of TM atom and the 2p orbit of N atoms. In addition, the Mn- and Ni-doped AlN nanosheet with half-metal characters seems to be good candidates for spintronic applications. When substituting two Al atoms, the relative energies of the states between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic coupling are investigated sufficiently. The exchange coupling of Co- and Ni-doped AlN nanosheets exhibits a transformation with different distances of two TM atoms and that of Cr-, Mn-, and Fe-doped AlN nanosheets is not changed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Mechanism of tailored magnetic anisotropy in amorphous Co{sub 68}Fe{sub 24}Zr{sub 8} thin films

The mechanism of tailored magnetic anisotropy in amorphous Co{sub 68}Fe{sub 24}Zr{sub 8} thin films was investigated by ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) on samples deposited without an applied magnetic field, with an out-of-plane field and an in-plane field. Analysis of FMR spectra profiles, high frequency susceptibility calculations, and statistical simulations using a distribution of local uniaxial magnetic anisotropy reveal the presence of atomic configurations with local uniaxial anisotropy, of which the direction can be tailored while the magnitude remains at an intrinsically constant value of 3.0(2) kJ/m{sup 3}. The in-plane growth field remarkably sharpens the anisotropy distribution and increases the sample homogeneity. The results benefit designing multilayer spintronic devices based on highly homogeneous amorphous layers with tailored magnetic anisotropy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetization stability analysis of the Stoner-Wohlfarth model under a spin-polarized current with a tilted polarization

The stationary-state solutions of magnetization dynamics under a spin-polarized current that was polarized in an arbitrary direction were investigated by solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Slonczewski equation for a single-domain magnet. Taking into consideration the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, the equilibrium directions of the magnetization vectors were analytically obtained by solving an algebraic cubic equation. It was found that one to three pairs of magnetization equilibrium states existed, depending on the current intensity and the direction of the spin polarization. By numerically analyzing the stabilities of these equilibrium states, the threshold switching current for the reversing the magnetic vector was obtained under different current polarization configurations, which may be useful for use in future spintronics devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

The spin-dependent transport of Co-encapsulated Si nanotubes contacted with Cu electrodes

Unlike carbon nanotubes, silicon ones are hard to form. However, they could be stabilized by metal-encapsulation. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the spin-dependent electronic transport of Co-encapsulated Si nanotubes, which are contacted with Cu electrodes. For the finite tubes, as the tube-length increases, the transmission changes from spin-unpolarized to spin-polarized. Further analysis shows that, not only the screening of electrodes on Co's magnetism but also the spin-asymmetric Co-Co interactions are the physical mechanisms. As Cu and Si are the fundamental elements in semiconductor industry, our results may throw light on the development of silicon-based spintronic devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Defect-induced magnetism in cobalt-doped ZnO epilayers

We used a synergic Co-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and density functional theory calculations approach to perform a study of defects which could account for the room temperature ferromagnetism of ZnCoO, an oxide of great potential interest in semiconductor spintronics. Our results suggest that a key role is played by specific defect complexes in which O vacancies are located close to the Co atoms. Extended defects such as Co clusters have a marginal function, although we observe their formation at the epilayer surface under certain growth conditions. We also show preliminary results of the study of hydrogen-induced defects in ZnCoO epilayers deliberately hydrogen irradiated via a Kaufman source. Hydrogen was in fact predicted to mediate a ferromagnetic spin-spin interaction between neighboring magnetic impurities.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Towards sub-200 nm nano-structuring of linear giant magneto-resistive spin valves by a direct focused ion beam milling process

In this work, we present a detailed investigation of a focused ion beam (FIB) assisted nano-structuring process for giant magneto-resistive (GMR) spin valve sensors. We have performed a quantitative study of the dependence of the GMR ratio as well as the sensor resistance on the ion dose, which is implanted in the active region of our sensors. These findings are correlated with the decrease of magneto-resistive properties after micro- and nano-structuring by the FIB and reveal the importance of ion damage which limits the applicability of FIB milling to GMR devices in the low μm range. Deposition of a protective layer (50 nm SiO{sub 2}) on top of the sensor structure before milling leads to a preservation of the magneto-resistive properties after the milling procedure down to sensor dimensions of ∼300 nm. The reduction of the sensor dimensions to the nanometer regime is accompanied by a shift of the GMR curves, and a modification of the saturation behavior. Both effects can be explained by a micromagnetic model including the magnetic interaction of free and pinned layer as well as the effect of the demagnetizing field of the free layer on the sensor behavior. The results demonstrate that the FIB technology can be successfully used to prepare spintronic nanostructures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tuning exchange bias in Fe/γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} core-shell nanoparticles: Impacts of interface and surface spins

A comparative study has been performed of the exchange bias (EB) effect in Fe/γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} core-shell nanoparticles with the same thickness of the γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} shell (∼2 nm) and the diameter of the Fe core varying from 4 nm to 11 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM confirmed the high quality of the core-shell nanostructures. A systematic analysis of magnetization versus magnetic field measurements under zero-field-cooled and field-cooled regimes using the Meiklejohn-Bean model and deconvoluting superparamagnetic and paramagnetic contribution to the total magnetic moment Langevin function shows that there exists a critical particle size (∼10 nm), above which the spins at the interface between Fe and γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} contribute primarily to the EB, but below which the surface spin effect is dominant. Our finding yields deeper insight into the collective contributions of interface and surface spins to the EB in core-shell nanoparticle systems, knowledge of which is the key to manipulating EB in magnetic nanostructures for spintronics applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Room temperature spin transport in undoped (110) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We are reporting on our first observation of a micrometer-order electron spin transport in a (110) GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well (QW) at room temperature using a space- and time-resolved Kerr rotation technique. A 37-μm transport was observed within an electron spin lifetime of 1.2 ns at room temperature when using an in-plane electric field of 1.75 kV/cm. The spatio-temporal profiles of electron spins were well reproduced by the spin drift-diffusion equations coupled with the Poisson equation, supporting the validity of the measurement. The results suggest that (110) QWs are useful as a spin transport layer for semiconductor spintronic devices operating at room temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗