We report on photo-induced magnetic effect and infrared (IR) spectroscopic behavior of colossal magnetorestive manganite La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) with rare earth co-doping (Er3+ and Yb3) at room temperature. X-ray diffraction shows that a structural phase transformation from rhombohedral to hexagonal with increasing Er and Yb concentrations. Photo-induced magnetoresistance showed that Er3+ and Yb+3 ions have significant influence on the magnetic and electrical ordering of LSMO under the influence of UV light. The optical excitation also shows an enhancement in the magnetotransport properties of LSMO.

Surface smoothing of Ru used as underlayer of magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJ)in magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) was carried out with gascluster ion beam (GCIB) in order to improve device characteristics. For Rufilms, surface smoothing with 5 kV N2-GCIB irradiation was effective,and CoFe films deposited on smoothed Ru surface also showed smooth surface. Fromthe hysteresis loop measurements of MTJ formed on smoothed Ru withN2-GCIB, it showed improvement of inter-layer coupling magnetic field(Hin) with decreasing the surface roughness of underlayer Ru. Itis expected that surface roughness of MgO in MTJ was also improved by smoothingof underlayer Ru with N2-GCIB.

We have investigated the effect of oxygen pressure during growth (PO2) on the electronic and magnetic properties of PrAlO3 films grown on TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 substrates. The films are smooth, with flat terraces. Resistivity measurements show an increase in the sheet resistance as PO2 is increased from 10–3 to 10–4 torr, with an usual peak as a function of temperature for the sample grown in higher oxygen pressure. We measured a moderate positive magnetoresistance (MR) at low magnetic fields that evolves into a larger negative MR at high fields, for both PO2 samples. Hall effect data exhibit a complex temperature dependence that suggests a compensated carrier density. We observe behavior consistent with two different types of carriers at each of the two different interfaces.

In this paper we present an innovative on-chip platform suitable for the simultaneous manipulation and detection of the transit of a single magnetic bead. This system is based on the controlled displacement of constrained magnetic domain walls (DWs) that are used to move and sense particles in suspension over the chip. To this scope, the high stray field from the transverse DWs created at the corners of ferromagnetic zig-zag structures is used for particles manipulation, while electrical contacts flanking a single corner are employed to simultaneously monitor the DW passage through that corner, via anisotropic magneto resistance (AMR) measurements. A single DW carrying a magnetic particle is nucleated and manipulated within the zig-zag shaped magnetic conduit, trough the action of external magnetic fields. At the same time, the variation of the voltage drop across a corner flanked by a pair of electrical leads is measured, allowing to detect the transit of the DW thanks to the change of the relative orientation of current and spins at the corner related to the peculiar micromagnetic configuration of the DW (AMR). Work is in progress in order to selectively distinguish the transit of a naked DW from that of a DW bound to a magnetic particle. This work paves the way to the development of a closed-loop microlfuidic platform for on-chip bead manipulation, where single bead can be finely moved and their motion continuously checked, via AMR electrical detection and without need of optical monitoring, in a fully integrated closed-loop system.

We have studied the magnetoresistance (MR) of hydrogen plasma-treated pure ZnO wires of tens of micrometer diameter at different temperatures. A negative MR of 1% at 8 T applied field is measured for all wires at 4 K, independent of the temperature (300 K … 773 K) used during the hydrogen treatment. However, a positive MR develops, the higher the treatment temperature. The MR can be explained with a semiempirical model taking into account local magnetic moments and the s–d exchange interaction. These results together with field anisotropy in the MR indicate the appearance of magnetic order due to the hydrogen treatment in agreement with recently published reports on the influence of hydrogen in bulk ZnO single crystals. Hydrogen doping may provide a way to trigger defect-induced magnetism in small oxide structures.

Molecular spintronics devices (MSDs) are capable of harnessing the controllable transport and magnetic properties of molecular device elements and are highly promising candidates for revolutionizing computer logic and memory. A MSD is typically produced by placing magnetic molecule(s) between the two ferromagnetic electrodes. Recent experimental studies show that the molecules produced unprecedented strong exchange couplings between the two ferromagnets, leading to intriguing magnetic and transport properties in a MSD. Future development of MSDs will critically depend on obtaining an in-depth understanding of the molecule induced exchange coupling and its impact on MSD’s switchability and temperature stability. However, the large size of MSD systems and unsuitable device designs are the two biggest hurdles in theoretical and experimental studies of magnetic attributes produced by molecules in a MSD. This research theoretically studies the MSD by performing Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) studies, which have the capacity to tackle large systems- such as MSD based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) test bed. The MTJ based MSD has the distinctive advantage that MTJ test bed can be subjected to experimental magnetic characterizations before and after transforming it into a MSD by bridging the molecules of interest between the two metal electrodes of a MTJ. Hence the result of our MCS can be verified experimentally.

The δ-FeZn10 phase possesses high structural complexity typical of complex metallic alloys: a giant unit cell comprising 556 atoms, polyhedral atomic order with icosahedrally-coordinated environments, fractionally occupied lattice sites and statistically disordered atomic clusters that introduce intrinsic disorder into the structure. The electrical resistivity is large and exhibits a maximum at about 220 K. The magnetoresistance is sizeable, amounting to 1.5 % at 2 K in 9 T field. The temperature–dependent resistivity is discussed within the frame of the theory of slow charge carriers, applicable to metallic systems with weak dispersion of the electronic bands, where the electron motion changes from ballistic to diffusive upon heating. A comparison to the theory of weak localization is also made.

The effect of wet chemical treatment on the magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) was examined. The tunneling magneto-resistance (TMR) increased and the resistance of anti-parallel state and parallel state decreased when a wet cleaning treatment was carried out after a reactive ion etching process. Furthermore, the exfoliation between the capping layer and Inter layer Dielectric (ILD) was prevented. Presumably, these were due to the elimination of the damaged layer and the residues. This investigation showed that the wet treatment after the MTJ patterning using RIE process could improve the MTJ properties without degradation of Hc, such as TMR and Rlow.

This paper reports that the homogeneous nanocrystalline LCMO(core)/SFMO(shell) and SFMO(core)/LCMO(shell) series composites are successively synthesized using polymer-network sol-gel method. With the increase of SFMO content in the composites, the remanence magnetization Mr increases while the coercivity Hc decreases. This fact indicates that the ferromagnetic phase boosts up. Moreover, the LFMR (1 T) of the composites succeeds the preponderances of both SFMO and LCMO; i.e., the magnetoresistance (MR) value increases from 300 to 5 K and keeps a high level. In particular, the MR value of the LS-8 composite reaches 55% at 5 K and 7 T.

We report ac electrical transport in the metallic ferromagnet La0.7Sr0.3MnO3. Both ac resistance (R) and reactance (X) were measured as a function of temperature (T= 400-100 K), frequency of the ac current (f = 100 kHz – 20 MHZ) and external dc magnetic field (H = 0-100 mT) applied parallel to the current direction. It is shown that, while R(H = 0 T) decreases smoothly around the Curie temperature (TC) for f = 100 kHz, an abrupt increase followed by a peak close to TC occurs for f ≥ 500 kHz. The peak decreases in magnitude, broadens and shifts down in temperature with increasing values of H. The peak in R is completely suppressed under H= 100 mT resulting in a huge low-field ac magnetoresistance (R/R= -53 % for f= 2MHz) whereas the dc magnetoresistance only -31 % even at H = 7 T. While the reactance X(H = 0 T) also shows an abrupt increase at TC for f < 10 MHz, it decreases abruptly at TC for f ≥ 12 MHz. The magnetoreactance is largest (X/X= -47 %) at f = 100 kHz and it changes sign from negative to positive with increasing frequency. It is suggested that the observed huge ac magnetoresistance arises from decrease of magnetic permeability which enhances skin depth under a magnetic field. Our results indicate that the extraordinary sensitivity of the ac magnetoresistance to low dc magnetic fields can be exploited for device applications.

For spintronic device applications, large and in particular tunable tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratios are inevitable. Fully crystalline and epitaxially grown Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) are well suited for this purpose and, thus, are being intensively studied [1]. However, due to imperfect interfaces it is difficult to obtain sufficiently large TMR ratios that fulfill industrial demands (e.g. [2]).

A new means to increase TMR ratios is the insertion of ultra-thin metallic buffer layers at one or at both of the Fe/MgO interfaces. With regard to their magnetic and electronic properties as well as their small lattice mismatch to Fe(001), Co and Cr spacer are being preferably investigated.

We report on a systematic first-principles study of the effect of Co and Cr buffers (with thicknesses up to 6 ML) in Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) on the spin-dependent conductance. The results of the transport calculations reveal options to specifically tune the TMR ratio. Symmetric junctions, i.e. with Co buffers at both interfaces, exhibit for some thicknesses much larger TMR ratios in comparison to those obtained for Fe-only electrodes. Further, antiferromagnetic Cr films at a single interface introduce TMR oscillations with a period of 2 ML, a feature which provides another degree of freedom in device applications. The comparison of our results with experimental findings shows agreement and highlights the importance of interfaces for the TMR effect.

We report the magnetoresistance (MR) measurements in a nanoconstriction fabricated by focused-ion-beam (FIB) in the tunneling regime of conductance. The resistance of the contact was controlled during the fabrication process, being stable in the metallic regime, near the conductance quantum, and under high vacuum conditions. The metallic contact was deteriorated when exposed to atmosphere, resulting in a conduction mechanism by tunneling. The TMR was found to be of 3% at 24 K. The anisotropic tunneling magnetoresistance (TAMR) was around 2% for low temperatures, with a field angle dependence more abrupt than in bulk Fe. This preliminary result is promising for the application of this technique to fabricate stable ferromagnetic constrictions near the atomic regime of conductance, where high MR values are expected.

The synthesis, structure, and magnetic and transport properties of solid solutions Sr2FeRe1-xFexO6 (0≤x≤0.5) are reported. A structural evolution in the solid solutions from a double perovskite to perovskite is observed with increasing Fe/Re disorder. Except for the metallic parent compound all members of the series are semiconducting. For the Fe-doped samples a change from ferrimagnetic interactions in the parent compound to a complex superposition of ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions was observed. The magnetic moment decreases with x, whereas the Curie temperature TC remains unaffected. The magnetic and Mössbauer data suggest Fe to act as a redox-buffer.

We have demonstrated the use of highly sensitive spin valve sensors for the detection of micron magnetic beads. By using a ring type, cross type, and meander line type sensors, we were able to detect the presence of 2.8 μm size magnetic beads in real time by direct measurement of magnetic dipole fields from magnetic beads. The sensitivity of the ring, cross and meander line sensors were obtained about 50 μV/Oe, 7 μV/Oe, 30 μV/Oe and sensor output signals of 50 μV , 30 μV, 90 μV were obtained in an external applied field of 10 Oe and 1 mA sense current. Our results shows that ring, cross, and meander line shape spin valve sensors are very promising candidates for the detection of biomolecules with magnetic labels.

We studied electrical transport in dilute magnetic semiconductors, which is determined by scattering of free carriers by localized magnetic moments. In our calculations of the scattering time and the mobility of the majority and minority-spin carriers we took into account both the effects of thermal spin fluctuations and of built-in spatial disorder of the magnetic atoms. These effects are responsible for the magnetic-field dependence of the mobility of the charge carriers. The application of the external magnetic field suppresses the thermodynamic spin fluctuations thus increasing the mobility. Simultaneously, depending on the type of the carriers and on parameters of the impurity potential, scattering by built-in spatial fluctuations of the atomic spins increases or decreases with the magnetic field. The latter effect is due to the change in the magnitude of the random local Zeeman splitting with the magnetic field. We discuss the role of the above effects on mobility and magnetoresistance of semiconductors where magnetic impurities are electrically active or neutral.

In this paper, phase separation and crystal structure of (x) La0.625Sr0.375MnO3 − (1-x) LuMnO3 system (LSMO-LMO), and (1-x) La0.9Ca0.1MnO3-(x) LuMnO3 system (LCMO-LMO) were studied by XRD and SEM. The results confirm that there are solid solutions in both of these two systems. There is a solid solution of monoclinic phase of space group P1121/a for x=0.980∼1.0 in LSMO-LMO system. There is a solid solution of hexagonal phase of space group P63cm for x=0.0∼0.24 in LCMO-LMO. Selected compositions were tested in terms of their magnetization, dielectric constant and ferroelectric properties at low temperatures.

We have investigated the effect of high-temperature post-annealing and control of excess oxygen for La1-xSrxMnOy (0.05 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) single crystals. Thin plate-like single crystals prepared by careful cutting and polishing enabled the control of excess oxygen for the single crystals by post-annealing for relatively short times at various temperatures. Post-annealed crystals with y ∼ 3.00 exhibited higher TC than that of as-grown crystals due to homogenization of cation and oxygen compositions and reduction of local lattice strains. With an increase of y, TC systematically increased for all Sr compositions. Competition between an increase of mean valence of manganese and generation of cation vacancy determines the TC of La1-xSrxMnOy crystals.

Growth of a Co/Cu/Co multilayer is investigated by molecular-dynamics simulation. The interactions between Co and Cu atoms are calculated in terms of the generic-embedded atom method potential. It is confirmed that two-dimensional island growth of Cu atoms on the Co substrate occurs in the simulations. The roughnesses of the surface and the interface are evaluated by means of the standard deviations of the heights of the surface and interface atoms. Intermixing atoms between the layers are also counted. We conclude that there exists an optimum combination of the incident energies of deposited Cu and Co atoms which minimizes both the roughness and intermixing of the interface.

A novel method has been developed for synthesis of multi-element alloys by planetary magnetron sputter deposition techniques. The alloy is formed by alternating depositions of uniform ultra-thin component layers at a fraction of a mono-atomic layer, or atomic layer lamination. A minimal layer thickness of down to 0.1Å can be obtained such that the components can be mixed at atomic level forming a homogeneous alloy.

A typical example is demonstrated here for the synthesis of CoxFe1−x alloys by alternating depositions of Co and Fe layers from pure element targets. The compositional dependence of the laminates basically reconstructs the well-known Slater-Pauling curve of the bulk CoxFe1−x alloys. The laminates exhibit a clear structural transition at Co compositions between 60 and 80 % from fcc phase to bcc phase, characteristic of bulk CoxFe1−x alloys. The novel atomic layer lamination has been successfully applied to the composition optimization of CoFe pinned layer with a best pinning strength at Co70Fe30 for exchange biased spin-valve films.

The magnetoresistance of conjugated polymer poly [2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) based organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) was investigated at both forward and reverse bias at liquid nitrogen temperature. We find that the reverse bias yields a largely increased magnetoresistance when the electron-hole capture zone is away from the metal electrode as compared to the forward bias with the electron-hole capture zone close to the metal electrode. The electroluminescence suggests that the deposited metal atoms enhance the spin-orbital coupling at the polymer/metal interface and consequently lead to electron-hole capture zone-dependent magnetic field effects in organic semiconductor devices.