Phys.org December 28, 2021
An international team of researchers (USA – University of Nebraska, University of Wisconsin, China) has shown that spin-independent conductance in compensated antiferromagnets and normal metals can be efficiently exploited in spintronics, provided their magnetic space group symmetry supports a non-spin-degenerate Fermi surface. Due to their momentum-dependent spin polarization, such antiferromagnets can be used as active elements in antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions (AFMTJs) and produce a giant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. Using RuO2 as a representative compensated antiferromagnet exhibiting spin-independent conductance they designed a RuO2/TiO2/RuO2 (001) AFMTJ, where a globally spin-neutral charge current was controlled by the two RuO2 electrodes, resulting in the TMR effect as large as ~500%. The work uncovers an unexplored potential of the materials with no global spin polarization for utilizing them in spintronics…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Spin-polarized conduction channels in different types of magnetic materials. Credit: Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 7061 (2021)Â