Large Room-Temperature Magnetoresistance in van der Waals Ferromagnet/Semiconductor Junctions

• Published in: Chinese physics letters Vol. 39; no. 12; pp. 128501 - 107
• Main Authors: Zhu, Wenkai, Xie, Shihong, Lin, Hailong, Zhang, Gaojie, Wu, Hao, Hu, Tiangui, Wang, Ziao, Zhang, Xiaomin, Xu, Jiahan, Wang, Yujing, Zheng, Yuanhui, Yan, Faguang, Zhang, Jing, Zhao, Lixia, Patané, Amalia, Zhang, Jia, Chang, Haixin, Wang, Kaiyou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chinese Physical Society and IOP Publishing Ltd 01.11.2022; School of Physics,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China; Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China%State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures,Institute of Semiconductors,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100083,China%State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures,Institute of Semiconductors,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100083,China; School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,Tiangong University,Tianjin 300387,China%School of Physics and Astronomy,University of Nottingham,Nottingham NG7 2RD,United Kingdom%Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China; State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures,Institute of Semiconductors,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100083,China; Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China%State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures,Institute of Semiconductors,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100083,China; School of Physics and Astronomy,University of Nottingham,Nottingham NG7 2RD,United Kingdom%Center for Joining and Electronic Packaging,State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die&Mold Technology,School of Materials Science and Engineering,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China
• ISSN: 0256-307X; 1741-3540
• DOI: 10.1088/0256-307X/39/12/128501

A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is the core component in memory technologies, such as the magnetic random-access memory, magnetic sensors and programmable logic devices. In particular, MTJs based on two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures offer unprecedented opportunities for low power consumption and miniaturization of spintronic devices. However, their operation at room temperature remains a challenge. Here, we report a large tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of up to 85% at room temperature ( T = 300 K) in vdW MTJs based on a thin (< 10 nm) semiconductor spacer WSe 2 layer embedded between two Fe 3 GaTe 2 electrodes with intrinsic above-room-temperature ferromagnetism. The TMR in the MTJ increases with decreasing temperature up to 164% at T = 10 K. The demonstration of TMR in ultra-thin MTJs at room temperature opens a realistic and promising route for next-generation spintronic applications beyond the current state of the art.