The project of our team "Modelling of low-dimensional magnetic heterostructures for next-generation spintronic devices" was supported by the Russian Science Foundation!»
The challenge of finding new ways of storing and processing information is extremely relevant nowadays, as traditional silicon technologies have actually reached the limit of information recording density and further miniaturization. One solution to this problem is to consider the electron as a charge carrier with two main "degrees of freedom" determined by its spin. Thus, due to giant and tunnel magnetoresistance effects, spin transfer effects and a number of other fundamental properties, spintronic devices, the basis of a new generation of information storage and processing technology, are now being actively developed. However, despite the proven high potential of spintronic technology (in terms of low power consumption and speed), it is still in its infancy in the consumer market. magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) is expected to be able to compete with conventional flash memories. But to achieve this, a number of challenges must be met, requiring advances in the synthesis of stable nanoscale heterostructures and ways to control their properties at the atomic level. Two-dimensional materials can play a key role in solving these problems. Indeed, since the discovery of graphene and related materials, atomic-thick films have been viewed as a potential component of ultra-compact device architecture and radically new ways to process information. Scientific advances in spintronic devices based on 2D materials, as well as recent progress in large-scale co-integration of 2D structures with traditional microelectronic materials, have opened promising prospects for MRAM technology development. The project proposes the first comprehensive theoretical investigation of a range of promising magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJ) based on ferromagnetic and 2D materials, for which magnetoresistance and spin injection effects - the basis of spin valves and transistors - can be observed. For example, new interfaces based on iron and cobalt, including half-metallic Heusler alloys, and their heterojunction with two-dimensional structures such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides with different compositions will be investigated. Despite the wide popularity of these materials separately, heterostructures based on them are poorly understood, and experimental work and further applications for spintronic applications require a detailed theoretical analysis of the structure, properties and nature of the spintronic effects. In this project, quantum-chemical simulations and nonequilibrium transport methods will be used for the first time to obtain detailed information on the electronic and magnetic configuration of the most promising MTJs, to describe the equilibrium properties of heterojunctions, and to calculate the quantum conductivity and to study the tunneling magnetoresistance effect. Moreover, tunnel heterostructures with an embedded MoO3 oxide layer, a promising for efficient spin injection in two-dimensional materials due to the proximity effect, will be modelled and studied for the first time. The results will significantly extend the field of knowledge about the spin-transport properties of new magnetic heterostructures based on experimentally known ferromagnetic materials and two-dimensional films. The prospects for their application in magnetoresistive and other spintronic devices will also be substantiated in detail.
The project PI is Dr. Konstantin Larionov