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Title: Voltage Control of a van der Waals Spin-Filter Magnetic Tunnel Junction

Journal Article · · Nano Letters

Atomically thin chromium triiodide (CrI3) has recently been identified as a layered antiferromagnetic insulator, in which adjacent ferromagnetic monolayers are antiferromagnetically coupled. This unusual magnetic structure naturally comprises a series of antialigned spin filters, which can be utilized to make spin-filter magnetic tunnel junctions with very large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR). Here we report voltage control of TMR formed by four-layer CrI3 sandwiched by monolayer graphene contacts in a dual-gated structure. By varying the gate voltages at fixed magnetic field, the device can be switched reversibly between bistable magnetic states with the same net magnetization but drastically different resistance (by a factor of 10 or more). Also, without switching the state, the TMR can be continuously modulated between 17,000% and 57,000%, due to the combination of spin-dependent tunnel barrier with changing carrier distributions in the graphene contacts. Our work shows new kinds of magnetically moderated transistor action and opens up possibilities for voltage-controlled van der Waals spintronic devices.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1503984
Journal Information:
Nano Letters, Vol. 19, Issue 2; ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 100 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (15)

Van der Waals magnets: Wonder building blocks for two‐dimensional spintronics? journal October 2019
Theory and simulations of critical temperatures in CrI 3 and other 2D materials: easy-axis magnetic order and easy-plane Kosterlitz–Thouless transitions journal September 2019
Ultrathin Scattering Spin Filter and Magnetic Tunnel Junction Implemented by Ferromagnetic 2D van der Waals Material journal January 2020
Determining the phase diagram of atomically thin layered antiferromagnet CrCl3 journal November 2019
Low-temperature monoclinic layer stacking in atomically thin CrI 3 crystals journal November 2019
Van der Waals Heterostructures for High‐Performance Device Applications: Challenges and Opportunities journal October 2019
Micromagnetometry of two-dimensional ferromagnets journal September 2019
Magnetic 2D materials and heterostructures journal May 2019
Magnetic Proximity Effect in a van der Waals Moiré Superlattice journal August 2019
Evolution of interlayer and intralayer magnetism in three atomically thin chromium trihalides journal May 2019
Pressure-controlled interlayer magnetism in atomically thin CrI3 journal October 2019
Electronic structure and magnetic properties of few-layer Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 : the key role of nonlocal electron–electron interaction effects journal September 2019
Electronic structure and magnetic properties of few-layer Cr$_2$Ge$_2$Te$_6$: the key role of nonlocal electron-electron interaction effects text January 2019
Theory and simulations of critical temperatures in CrI3 and other 2D materials: Easy-axis magnetic order and easy-plane Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions text January 2019
Van der Waals heterostructures for high-performance device applications: challenges and opportunities text January 2019