Magnetoelectric effects in oxide magnetic tunnel junctions with ferroelectric barriers

ORAL

Abstract

Functional properties of magnetic tunnel junction can be enhanced by employing a ferroelectric material as the barrier layer. We report on La0.7Sr0.3MnO3(LSMO)/BaTiO3(BTO)/LSMO magnetic tunnel junctions(MTJ) with BTO ferroelectric tunnel barrier. Switching BTO ferroelectric polarization influences the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) achieving two different r resistance states for each magnetic state (parallel or antiparallel) of the magnetization of the electrodes . The voltage dependence of the differential conductance obtained from IV curves displays oscillations whose period depends on the BTO electric polarization. This unusual behavior could be related to the presence of an induced magnetic moment in BTO ferroelectric barrier detected by XMCD measurements. These results reveal that spin polarization, and its tunneling conductance can be electrically tuned through reversal of the ferroelectric polarization of the barrier.

Authors

  • Javier Tornos

    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Y.H. Liu

    • Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
    • Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory
  • S.G.E. te Velthuis

    • Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL, USA
    • Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory
  • M.R. Fitzsimmons

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • LANSCE, LANL
  • A. Rivera

    • GFMC. Dpt. Applied Physics. U. Complutense
    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • R. Lopez Anton

    • Universidad de Castilla La Mancha
  • G. Sanchez Santolino

    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Maria Varela

    • Materials science and Technology Div. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Tn 37831-6071
    • Condensed Matter Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Univ. Complutense, Spain
  • Norbert Nemes

    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Fac. CC. Fisicas, GFMC
  • Stephen Pennycook

    • Materials science and Technology Div. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Tn 37831-6071
    • Condensed Matter Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • MST Division, ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA. Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
  • Z. Sefrioui

    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Carlos Leon

    • GFMC. Dpt. Applied Physics. U. Complutense
    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Fac. CC. Fisicas, GFMC
  • Jacobo Santamaria

    • GFMC. Dpt. Applied Physics. U. Complutense
    • Universidad Complutense
    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    • Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Fac. CC. Fisicas, GFMC