Rotation of ferromagnetic clusters induced magnetoresistance in the junction composed of La0.9Ca0.1MnO3 +δ and 1 wt.% Nb-doped SrTiO3

A junction composed of ultrathin La0.9Ca0.1MnO3＋δ （LCMO） film and 1 wt.% Nb-doped SrTiO3 was fabricated and its magnetoresistance （MR） was studied and compared with LCMO film. It was found that the resistance of the junction has a similar dependence on magnetic field as that of the LCMO film： the curvature of R-H curves is upward above Curie temperature （Tc） and downward below TC. These behaviours strongly suggest that the rotation of ferromagnetic clusters in manganite also causes MR in the corresponding junction. This MR can be qualitatively understood by the change of the width of the barrier induced by the rotation of ferromagnetic clusters. These results suggest a possibility to obtain junctions with large low-field MR.     

Electron transport in manganite bicrystal junctions

The transport and magnetic properties of junctions created in La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ thin films epitaxially grown on substrates with a bicrystal boundary have been investigated. In tilted neodymium gallate bicrystal substrates, the NdGaO₃(110) planes are inclined at angles of 12° and 38°. The temperature dependences of the electrical resistance, magnetoresistance, and differential conductance of the junctions at different voltages have been measured and analyzed. It has been found that the magnetoresistance and electrical resistance of the junction significantly increase with an increase in the misorientation angle, even though the misorientation of the easy magnetization axes remains nearly unchanged. The ratio of the spin-dependent and spin-independent contributions to the conductance of the bicrystal junction increases by almost an order of magnitude with an increase in the misorientation angle from 12° to 38°. The magnetoresistance of the junction increases with decreasing temperature, which is most likely associated with an increase of the magnetic polarization of the electrons. It has been shown that, at low (liquid-helium) temperatures, the conductance depends on the voltage V according to the law V ^1/2, which indicates the dominant contribution from the electron-electron interaction to the electrical resistance of the junction. An increase in the temperature leads to a decrease in this contribution and an increase in the contribution proportional to V ^3/2, which is characteristic of the mechanism involving inelastic spin scattering by surface antiferromagnetic magnons.     

巨磁电阻材料La0.9Sr0.1MnO3与半导体Si组成的二极管的整流特性

掺杂锰氧化物La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃薄膜被直接沉积在n型 硅基片上，构成p-n结.这种p-n结在很宽的温度范围内都有很好的整流特性.研究结果表明， 这种p-n结的结电阻对低磁场敏感，在3×10^-2T的磁场下，磁电阻可达70％.磁 电阻的正负依赖于温度.磁电阻的大小可通过加在p-n结上的电压调节.     

Annealing effect on transport properties of Nd0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin films

Annealing dependence of the lattice parameter, resistivity, magnetoresistance and thermopower have been studied on Nd_0.7-Sr_0.33MnO₃ thin films deposited on LaAlO₃ and alumina substrates by pulsed laser ablation. Upon annealing at 800°C and 1000°C the lattice constant of the LaAlO₃ film tends toward that of the bulk target due to reduction in oxygen vacancies. This results in a metal-insulator transition at temperatures which increase with progressive annealing along with a decrease in the observed low temperature MR. Using a magnon scattering model we estimate the e _g bandwidth of the film annealed at 1000°C and show that the magnon contribution to the resistivity is suppressed in a highly oxygen deficient film and gains prominence only upon subsequent annealing. We also show that upon annealing, the polaron concentration and the spin cluster size increases in the paramagnetic phase, using an adiabatic polaron hopping model which takes into account an exchange dependent activation energy above the resistivity peak.     

用激光分子束外延在玻璃衬底上生长La0.67Sr0.33MnO3薄膜

采用激光分子束外延技术,在玻璃衬底上制备了La_067Sr_033MnO₃ （LSMO） 薄膜,X射线衍射测量结果表明在玻璃衬底上生长的LSMO薄膜沿c轴择优取向生长.在外磁场3 T和88, 220, 300 K条件下,LSMO薄膜的磁电阻变化率分别达到-378%, -268%和-607%.实验结果表明,在廉价的玻璃衬底上制备大面积和具有应用价值的锰氧化物薄膜是可行的. 关键词： 锰氧化物薄膜 玻璃衬底 外延生长     

Low temperature magnetoresistance in La1.32Sr1.68Mn2O7 layered manganite under hydrostatic pressure

The La_1.32Sr_1.68Mn₂O₇ layered manganite system has been studied by the low temperature electrical resistance and magnetoresistance under hydrostatic pressure up to 25 kbar. We have observe both, a Curie temperature (T_C) and a metal-insulator transition (T_MI) at 118 K in the ambient pressure. The applied pressure shifts the T_MI to higher temperature values and induces a second metal-insulator transition (T²_MI) at 90 K, in the temperature dependence of resistivity measurements. Also, the pressure suppresses the peak resistance abruptly at T_C. When an external field of 5 T is applied, we have observed a large negative magnetoresistance of 300% at the transition temperature and a 128% at 4.5 K. However, the increased pressure decreases the magnetoresistance ratio gradually. When the pressure reaches its maximum available value of 25 kbar, the magnetoresistance ratio decreases at a rate of 1.3%/kbar. From our experimental results, the decrease of magnetoresistance ratio with pressure is explained by the pressure induced canted spin state which is not favor for the spin polarized intergrain tunneling in layered manganites.     

Reversal transient laser-induced voltages in La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 films

This paper reports that the transient laser-induced voltages have been observed in La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 thin films on MgO （001） in the absence of an applied current. A peak voltage of - 0.15 V was detected in response to 0.015J pulse of 308 nm laser. It is demonstrated that the signal polarity is reversed when the films are irradiated through the substrate rather than at the air/film interface. Off-diagonal thermoelectricity may support the inversion of the signal when the irradiation direction is reversed.     

磁性隧道结Ni80Fe20/Al2O3/Co的制备和物性

用等离子体氧化形成绝缘层的方法,重复性地制备出了Ｎｉ８０Ｆｅ２０／Ａｌ２Ｏ３／Ｃｏ磁性隧道结。样品的隧道磁电阻（ＴＭＲ）比值在室温下最高可达６．０％,翻转场（ｓｗｉｔｃｈ ｆｉｅｌｄ）可低于８００Ａ／ｍ,平台宽度约２４００Ａ／ｍ。结电阻的变化范围从几百欧姆到几百千欧。     

Density-functional studies of electronic and magnetic structures for the perovskite oxides La2/3−yNdySr1/3MnO3

The effects of Nd-doping on the transport and magnetic properties of La_2/3−yNd_ySr_1/3MnO₃ (y=0, 1/3, 2/3) are studied theoretically by using the generalized-gradient-corrected full-potential method. In order to investigate the coupling between Nd and Mn, the electronic structures of La_2/3−yNd_ySr_1/3MnO₃ with ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) arrangements of Nd and Mn sublattices are calculated. The calculation for FM La_2/3−yNd_ySr_1/3MnO₃ yields a half-metallic band structure, while the ferrimagnetic (FiM) system is found to have a metallic character. Hybridization of Nd 4f, Mn 3d, and O 2p bands around Fermi level (E_F) is observed, suggesting the coupling between Nd and Mn is mediated by O 2p carriers. The qualitative features of transport and magnetic properties of such a two-spin system can be interpreted in terms of half-metallic FM domains being mixed up with metallic FiM domains. The proportion of FM domains varying with Nd-doping concentration has strong influences on the magnetoresistance.     

Magnetization reversal mechanism of magnetic tunnel junctions

Using the ion-beam-sputtering technique,we have fabricated Fe/Al2O3/Fe magnetic tunnelling junctions (MTJs).We have observed double-peaked shapes of curves,which have a level summit and a symmetrical feature,showing the magnetoresistance of the junction as a function of applied field.We have measured the tunnel conductance of MTJs which have insulating layers of different thicknesses.We have studied the dependence of the magnetoresistance of MTJs on tunnel conductance.The microstructures of hard-and soft-magnetic layers and interfaces of ferromagnets and insulators were probed.Analysing the influence of MJT microstructures,including those having clusters or/and granules in magnetic and non-magnetic films,a magnetization reversal mechanism(MRM) is proposed,which suggests that the MRM of tunnelling junctions may be explained by using a group-by-group reversal model of magnetic moments of the mesoscopical particles.We discuss the influence of MTJ microstructures,including those with clusters or/and granules in the ferromagnetic and non-magnetic films,on the MRM.     

Effects of ZnO film thickness on electrical and magnetoresistance characteristics of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3/ZnO heterostructures

The La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃/ZnO heterostructures with different thicknesses of ZnO films are fabricated by using RF magnetron sputtering technique. The heterojunctions exhibit excellent rectifying properties at 300 K. At low temperatures the temperature dependent junction resistance exhibits a metal-insulator transition like behavior. A magnetic field strongly impacts on electrical characteristics of La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃/ZnO p-n junctions, i.e., depressing the junction resistance greatly and driving the metal-insulator transition temperature (T_MI) towards higher temperatures. Large magnetoresistance is observed below T_MI, and it increases with increasing magnetic field and almost saturates at 5 T, i.e., above −90% at 100 K and 5 T.     

Origin of the non-linear pressure effects in perovskite manganites: Buckling of Mn-O-Mn bonds and Jahn-Teller distortion of the MnO6 octahedra induced by pressure

High-pressure resistivity and X-ray diffraction measurements were conducted on La_0.85MnO_3−δ at ∼6 and ∼7 GPa, respectively. At low pressures the metal-insulator transition temperature (T_MI) increases linearly up to a critical pressure, P^* ∼3.4 GPa, followed by reduction in T_MI at higher pressure. Analysis of the bond distances and bond angles reveals that a bandwidth increase drives the increase in T_MI below P^*. The reduction in T_MI at higher pressures is found to result from Jahn-Teller distortions of the MnO₆ octahedra. The role of anharmonic interatomic potentials is discussed.     

Magnetotransport and interdiffusion characteristics of magnetic tunnel junctions comprising nano-oxide layers upon exposure to postdeposition annealing

Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structures based on underlayer (CoNbZr)/bufferlayer (CoFe)/antiferromagnet (IrMn)/pinned layer (CoFe)/tunnel barrier (AlO_x)/free layer (CoFe)/capping (CoNbZr) have been prepared to investigate thermal degradation of magnetoresistive responses. Some junctions possess a nano-oxide layer (NOL) inside either in the underlayer or bufferlayer. The main purpose of the NOL inclusion was to control interdiffusion path of Mn from the antiferromagnet so that improved thermal stability could be achieved. The MTJs with NOLs were found to have reduced interfacial roughness, resulting in improved tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and reduced interlayer coupling field. We also confirmed that the NOL effectively suppressed the Mn interdiffusion toward the tunnel barrier by dragging Mn atoms toward NOL during annealing.     

Bias voltage dependence of inverted magnetoresistance on the annealing temperature in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions

MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with a layer sequence Ir₂₂Mn₇₈ or Fe₅₀Mn₅₀ (10 nm)/CoFe (2 nm)/Ru (0.85 nm)/CoFeB (0.5?t<2 nm)/MgO (2.5 nm)/CoFeB (3 nm) have been fabricated. The bias voltage dependence of tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) is given as a function of the annealing temperature for these MTJs, which shows the TMR ratio changes its sign from inverted to normal at a critical bias voltage (V_C) when an unbalanced synthetic antiferromagnetic stack CoFe/Ru/CoFeB is used. V_Cs change with the thickness of the pinned CoFeB and annealing temperature, which implies one can achieve different V_Cs by artificial control. The asymmetric V_C values suggest that a strong density-of-states modification occurs at bottom oxide/ferromagnet interface.     

New materials research for high spin polarized current

The author reports here a thorough investigation of structural and magnetic properties of Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 Heusler alloy films, and the tunnel magnetoresistance effect for junctions with Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 electrodes, spin injection into GaAs semiconductor from Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5, and spin filtering phenomena for junctions with CoFe₂O₄ ferrite barrier. It was observed that tunnel magnetoresistance ratio up to 832%(386%) at 9 K (room temperature), which corresponds to the tunnel spin polarization of 0.90 (0.81) for the junctions using Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 Heusler electrodes by optimizing the fabrication condition. It was also found that the tunnel magnetoresistance ratio are almost the same between the junctions with Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 Heusler electrodes on Cr buffered (1 0 0) and (1 1 0) MgO substrates, which indicates that tunnel spin polarization of Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 for these two direction are almost the same. The next part of this paper is a spin filtering effect using a Co ferrite. The spin filtering effect was observed through a thin Co-ferrite barrier. The inverse type tunnel magnetoresistance ratio of −124% measured at 10 K was obtained. The inverse type magnetoresistance suggests the negative spin polarization of Co-ferrite barrier. The magnetoresistance ratio of −124% corresponds to the spin polarization of −0.77 by the Co-ferrite barrier. The last part is devoted to the spin injection from Co₂FeAl_0.5Si_0.5 into GaAs. The spin injection signal was clearly obtained by three terminal Hanle measurement. The spin relaxation time was estimated to be 380 ps measured at 5 K.     

磁性隧道结Ni80Fe20/Al2O3/Co的研究

用等离子体氧化形成中间绝缘层的方法可重复制备出具有隧道磁电阻（TMR)效应的Ni₈₀Fe₂₀/Al₂O₃/Co磁性隧道结.光透射谱等实验结果表明等离子体氧化能可控制地制备较致密的Al₂O₃绝缘层.样品的TMR比值在室温下最高可达6.0％,反转场可低于800A/m,相应的平台宽度约为2400A/m.结电阻R_j的变化范围从百欧到几百千欧,并且TMR比值随零磁场结偏压增大单调减小. 关键词：     

Inverse TMR in a nominally symmetric CoFe/AlOx/CoFe junction induced by interfacial Fe3O4 investigated by STEM-EELS

We have found inverse tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) with a non-symmetric bias voltage dependence in a nominally symmetric Si (001)/Ag/CoFe/AlO_x/CoFe/IrMn/Ag magnetic tunnel junction after field cooling. The O K edge fine structure extracted from electron energy loss spectroscopy spectrum images taken at the interfaces of junctions with inverse TMR shows a thin, discontinuous Fe₃O₄ layer at the CoFe/AlO_x interfaces. The Fe L_2,3 edge core level shifts are also consistent with those of Fe₃O₄. We find no Fe₃O₄ layer in junctions with normal TMR. We believe this Fe₃O₄ layer is responsible for the inverse TMR.     

Pd/Ag掺杂的La0.67(Ca0.65Ba0.35)0.33MnO3体系电特性和磁电阻增强效应

系统研究了xAg-La_0.67(Ca_0.65Ba_0.35)_0.33MnO₃和xPd-La_0.67(Ca_0.65Ba_0.35)_0.33MnO₃(xAg-LCBMO和xPd-LCBMO)两种复合体系的电特性和磁电阻特性. 结果发现,Pd和Ag的掺杂都引起电阻率的大幅降低和峰值电阻率温度的升高,这主要源于晶粒边界/表面良导体金属晶粒的析出. 另外,Pd和Ag的掺杂都引起室温磁电阻的大幅增强. 尤其是27%摩尔比的Ag掺杂诱导了高达70%的室温磁电阻,几乎是未掺杂母体LCBMO的10倍,而27%摩尔比的Pd掺杂诱导产生了更高的磁电阻,约170%. 磁电阻的大幅增强,与良导体金属掺杂引起的样品电阻率的降低有关. 另一方面,晶粒表面/边界Mn离子与Pd离子接近诱导Pd离子的自旋极化对磁电阻的增强起了重要的促进作用.     

Crossover from negative to positive magnetoresistance in superconductor/ferromagnet composites thick films

Thick films of ((Bi, Pb)₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O_x)_0.95/(LaSr_0.7Mn_0.3O₃)_0.05 [(Bi-2223)_0.95(LSMO)_0.05] composites were fabricated on (0 0 1)-oriented LaAlO₃ substrates by a simple melting–quenching–annealing method and their structural, morphological and magnetoelectrical properties carefully studied. Analysis of the X-ray diffraction patterns suggested a highly oriented growth along the c-axis of LSMO. This preferred orientation, with the crystal c-axis being perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, was considered to be indicative of a textured growth mode. Electrical and magnetic measurements showed the presence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity in the composite at temperatures above room temperature and below T∼50 K, respectively. A clear crossover from negative to positive magnetoresistance was observed at ∼80 K in a magnetic field as strong as 5 T.     

Co-existence of giant magnetoresistance and large magnetocaloric effect near room temperature in nanocrystalline La0.7Te0.3MnO3

Sol-gel prepared nanocrystalline La_0.7Te_0.3MnO₃ has rhombohedral crystal structure (space group R3¯C) at room temperature and orders ferromagnetically at ∼280 K (T_C). A large magnetic entropy change of ∼12.5 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ is obtained near T_C for a field change of 50 kOe. This magnetocaloric effect could be explained in terms of Landau theory. The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity shows metal-insulator transition at T_C and a giant magnetoresistance of ∼52% in 50 kOe. The co-existence of giant magnetoresistance and large magnetocaloric effect near room temperature makes nanocrystalline La_0.7Te_0.3MnO₃ a promising material for magnetic refrigeration and spintronic device applications.