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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Unraveling Ferroelectric Polarization and Ionic Contributions to Electroresistance in Epitaxial Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 Tunnel Junctions

Tunnel devices based on ferroelectric Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 (HZO) barriers hold great promises for emerging data storage and computing technologies. The resistance state of the device can be changed through use of a suitable writing voltage. However, the microscopic mechanisms leading to the resistance change are an intricate interplay between ferroelectric polarization controlled barrier properties and defect-related transport mechanisms. Herein, the fundamental role of the microstructure of HZO films determining the balance between those contributions is demonstrated. The HZO film presents coherent or incoherent grain boundaries, associated to the coexistance of monoclinic and orthorhombic phases, which are dictated by the mismatch with the substrates for epitaxial growth. These grain boundaries are the toggle that allows to obtain either large (up to ≈450%) and fully reversible genuine polarization controlled electroresistance when only the orthorhombic phase is present or an irreversible and extremely large (≈10 3 –10 5 %) electroresistance when both phases coexist.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Fingerprinting Superconductors by Disentangling Andreev and Quasiparticle Currents Across Tunable Tunnel Junctions

Tunneling Andreev reflection (TAR) spectroscopy provides a new approach to identify superconducting pairing symmetry at the atomic scale. Using atomistic superconducting transport simulations, we reveal the mechanism by which TAR can distinguish between pairing symmetries, which is complementary to traditional conductance-based techniques. In particular, owing to the additivity of the excess tunneling decay rate, the TAR spectrum is a weighted average of the contributions from quasiparticle currents, Andreev reflection, and higher-order scattering processes, and their relative weights depend on both the superconducting order parameter and the coupling strength. Within the local tunneling model, TAR dominates mid-gap conductance for s-wave superconductors, is suppressed for d-wave, and coexists with quasiparticle tunneling in sign-changing symmetries if the expectation value for the superconducting gap remains finite. Meanwhile, higher-order processes generally enhance the TAR signal when GN exceeds approximately 0.1G0. As a result, TAR provides a rich spectral fingerprint of the underlying pairing symmetry and electronic structure, enabling atomically resolved identification of unconventional superconducting states.

Maksymovych, Petro [Clemson University]↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of interfacial structures on spin dependent tunneling in epitaxial L1{sub 0}-FePt/MgO/FePt perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

Epitaxial FePt(001)/MgO/FePt magnetic tunnel junctions with L1{sub 0}-FePt electrodes showing perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were fabricated by molecular beam epitaxial growth. Tunnel magnetoresistance ratios of 21% and 53% were obtained at 300 K and 10 K, respectively. Our previous work, based on transmission electron microscopy, confirmed a semi-coherent interfacial structure with atomic steps (Kohn et al., APL 102, 062403 (2013)). Here, we show by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculation that the bottom FePt/MgO interface is either Pt-terminated for regular growth or when an Fe layer is inserted at the interface, it is chemically bonded to O. Both these structures have a dominant role in spin dependent tunneling across the MgO barrier resulting in a decrease of the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio compared with previous predictions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Wide bandgap, strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions on InP substrates

In this work, the electrical performance of strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions with varying designs is presented. Strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions comprising compressively strained InAlAs wells and tensile-strained InAlAs barriers were grown on InP substrates using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. The use of InAlAs enables InP-based tunnel junction devices to be produced using wide bandgap layers, enabling high electrical performance with low absorption. The impact of well and barrier thickness on the electrical performance was investigated, in addition to the impact of Si and Be doping concentration. Finally, the impact of an InGaAs quantum well at the junction interface is presented, enabling a peak tunnel current density of 47.6 A/cm{sup 2} to be realized.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Very low 1/f barrier noise in sputtered MgO magnetic tunnel junctions with high tunneling magnetoresistance

Low frequency 1/f barrier noise has been investigated in sputtered MgO magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with a tunneling magnetoresistance ratio of up to 330% at room temperature. The lowest normalized noise parameter {alpha} of the tunnel barrier reaches 2.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -12}-2.1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -11} {mu}m{sup 2}, which is comparable to that found in MTJs with the MgO barrier grown by MBE or electron-beam evaporation. This normalized barrier noise is almost bias independent in the voltage range of up to {+-}1.2 V. The low noise level and high voltage stability may reflect the high quality of the sputtered MgO with a uniform distribution of defects in the MgO layer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Temperature and bias-voltage dependence of atomic-layer-deposited HfO{sub 2}-based magnetic tunnel junctions

Magnetic tunnel junctions with HfO{sub 2} tunnel barriers were prepared through a combination of magnetron sputtering and atomic layer deposition. We investigated the tunneling transport behavior, including the tunnel magnetoresistance ratio and the current-voltage characteristics between room temperature and 2 K. Here, we achieved a tunneling magneto resistance ratio of 10.3% at room temperature and 19.3% at 2 K. Furthermore, we studied the bias-voltage and temperature dependencies and compared the results with those of commonly used alumina- and magnesia-based magnetic tunnel junctions. We observed a polycrystalline/amorphous electrode-barrier system via high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

InGaN based micro light emitting diodes featuring a buried GaN tunnel junction

GaN tunnel junctions (TJs) are grown by ammonia molecular beam epitaxy. High doping levels are achieved with a net acceptor concentration close to ∼10{sup 20 }cm{sup −3}, thanks to the low growth temperature. This allows for the realization of p-n junctions with ultrathin depletion width enabling efficient interband tunneling. n-p-n structures featuring such a TJ exhibit low leakage current densities, e.g., <5 × 10{sup −5} A cm{sup −2} at reverse bias of 10 V. Under forward bias, the voltage is 3.3 V and 4.8 V for current densities of 20 A cm{sup −2} and 2000 A cm{sup −2}, respectively. The specific series resistance of the whole device is 3.7 × 10{sup −4} Ω cm{sup 2}. Then micro-light emitting diodes (μ-LEDs) featuring buried TJs are fabricated. Excellent current confinement is demonstrated together with homogeneous electrical injection, as seen on electroluminescence mapping. Finally, the I-V characteristics of μ-LEDs with various diameters point out the role of the access resistance at the current aperture edge.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Multiferroic tunnel junctions and ferroelectric control of magnetic state at interface (invited)

As semiconductor devices reach ever smaller dimensions, the challenge of power dissipation and quantum effect place a serious limit on the future device scaling. Recently, a multiferroic tunnel junction (MFTJ) with a ferroelectric barrier sandwiched between two ferromagnetic electrodes has drawn enormous interest due to its potential applications not only in multi-level data storage but also in electric field controlled spintronics and nanoferronics. Here, we present our investigations on four-level resistance states, giant tunneling electroresistance (TER) due to interfacial magnetoelectric coupling, and ferroelectric control of spin polarized tunneling in MFTJs. Coexistence of large tunneling magnetoresistance and TER has been observed in manganite/(Ba, Sr)TiO{sub 3}/manganite MFTJs at low temperatures and room temperature four-resistance state devices were also obtained. To enhance the TER for potential logic operation with a magnetic memory, La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3}/BaTiO{sub 3}/La{sub 0.5}Ca{sub 0.5}MnO{sub 3} /La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} MFTJs were designed by utilizing a bilayer tunneling barrier in which BaTiO{sub 3} is ferroelectric and La{sub 0.5}Ca{sub 0.5}MnO{sub 3} is close to ferromagnetic metal to antiferromagnetic insulator phase transition. The phase transition occurs when the ferroelectric polarization is reversed, resulting in an increase of TER by two orders of magnitude. Tunneling magnetoresistance can also be controlled by the ferroelectric polarization reversal, indicating strong magnetoelectric coupling at the interface.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Resonant TMR inversion in LiF/EuS based spin-filter tunnel junctions

Resonant tunneling can lead to inverse tunnel magnetoresistance when impurity levels rather than direct tunneling dominate the transport process. We fabricated hybrid magnetic tunnel junctions of CoFe/LiF/EuS/Ti, with an epitaxial LiF energy barrier joined with a polycrystalline EuS spin-filter barrier. Due to the water solubility of LiF, the devices were fully packaged in situ. The devices showed sizeable positive TMR up to 16% at low bias voltages but clearly inverted TMR at higher bias voltages. The TMR inversion depends sensitively on the thickness of LiF, and the tendency of inversion disappears when LiF gets thick enough and recovers its intrinsic properties.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Mode-hopping mechanism generating colored noise in a magnetic tunnel junction based spin torque oscillator

The frequency noise spectrum of a magnetic tunnel junction based spin torque oscillator is examined where multiple modes and mode-hopping events are observed. The frequency noise spectrum is found to consist of both white noise and 1/f frequency noise. We find a systematic and similar dependence of both white noise and 1/f frequency noise on bias current and the relative angle between the reference and free layers, which changes the effective damping and hence the mode-hopping behavior in this system. The frequency at which the 1/f frequency noise changes to white noise increases as the free layer is aligned away from the anti-parallel orientation w.r.t the reference layer. These results indicate that the origin of 1/f frequency noise is related to mode-hopping, which produces both white noise as well as 1/f frequency noise similar to the case of ring lasers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Tunneling conductance studies in the ion-beam sputtered CoFe/Mg/MgO/NiFe magnetic tunnel junctions

Magnetic tunnel junctions consisting of CoFe(10 nm)/Mg(1 nm)/MgO(3.5 nm)/NiFe(10 nm) are grown at room temperature using dual ion beam sputtering via in-situ shadow masking. The effective barrier thickness and average barrier height are estimated to be 3.5 nm (2.9 nm) and 0.69 eV (1.09 eV) at 290 K (70 K), respectively. The tunnel magnetoresistance value of 0.2 % and 2.3 % was observed at 290 K and 60 K, respectively. The temperature dependence of tunneling conductance revealed the presence of localized states present within the forbidden gap of the MgO barrier leading to finite inelastic spin independent tunneling contributions, which degrade the TMR value.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Inelastic tunneling conductance and magnetoresistance investigations in dual ion-beam sputtered CoFeB(110)/MgO/CoFeB (110) magnetic tunnel junctions

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) comprising Ta(5)/NiFe(5)/IrMn(15)/CoFeB(5)/Mg(1)/MgO(3.5)/ CoFeB(5)/Ta(5)/Ag(20) (thickness in nm) with (110) oriented CoFeB layers are grown using dual ion beam sputtering. The tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of MTJs is found to be significantly bias dependent and exhibits zero bias anomaly (ZBA) which is attributed to the presence of magnetic impurities or diffusion of Mn from antiferromagnetic IrMn in the barrier. Adjacent to the ZBA, two peaks at 24 ± 3 mV and 34 ± 3 mV are also observed, which differ both in intensity as well as their position in the antiparallel and parallel magnetic states, suggesting that they are due to magnon excitations. In addition to this, a phonon peak at 65 ± 3 mV is also observed. The effect of temperature on the inelastic and elastic tunneling contributions is studied in detail in 25–300 K range using the Glazman and Matveev model. Ten series of localized states are found to be involved in hopping conduction in the forbidden gap of MgO barrier. The effect of presence of such inelastic channels is found to be insignificant at low temperatures yielding sizeable enhancement in TMR.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Single-shot switching in Tb/Co-multilayer based nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) are elementary units of magnetic memory devices. For high-speed and low-power data storage and processing applications, fast reversal of the magnetization by an ultrashort laser pulse is extremely important. Here we demonstrate single-shot switching of Tb/Co-multilayer based nanoscale MTJs by combining the optical writing and the electrical read-out methods. A 90-fs-long laser pulse switches the magnetization of the storage layer (SL). The change in the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) between the SL and a reference layer (RL) is probed electrically across the oxide barrier. Single-shot switching is demonstrated by varying the cell diameter from 300 nm to 20 nm. The anisotropy, magnetostatic coupling, and switching probability exhibit cell-size dependence. By suitable association of laser fluence and magnetic field, successive commutation between high-resistance and low-resistance states is achieved. The nature of the magnetization reversal of both SL and RL in a continuous film is probed with a depth-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) magnetometry. The ultrafast dynamics in the continuous full-MTJ stack is investigated with the time-resolved pump–probe technique. Our experimental findings provide strong support for the growing interest in ultrafast spintronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗