Tunnel magnetoresistance in trilayer junctions from first principles: Cr δ -layer doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1)

X. Y. Cui; B. Delley; A. J. Freeman; C. Stampfl

doi:10.1016/j.jmmm.2009.09.060

Tunnel magnetoresistance in trilayer junctions from first principles: Cr δ -layer doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1)

X. Y. Cui^*, B. Delley, A. J. Freeman, C. Stampfl

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The microscopic mechanism of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in Cr-doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1) trilayer junctions is studied based on density functional theory calculations. For enhanced performance, we propose δ -Cr-layer doping in GaN, close to the GaN/AlN interfaces. Depending on the doping concentration, Cr dopants produce local metallic (1 ML) or half-metallic (frac(1, 2) and frac(1, 4) ML) states surrounded by the host semiconductor materials. Very thin AlN barriers are predicted to yield a low TMR effect. These results help explain existing experimental results and are expected to be valuable with regard to the practical fabrication of improved pure semiconductor spintronic devices.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	395-399
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials
Volume	322
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2009.09.060
State	Published - Feb 2010

Keywords

Density functional theory
Electronic structure
Tunneling magnetoresistance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics

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10.1016/j.jmmm.2009.09.060

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@article{8c6b2f9d733f46adbbd511ecbd13e097,

title = "Tunnel magnetoresistance in trilayer junctions from first principles: Cr δ -layer doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1)",

abstract = "The microscopic mechanism of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in Cr-doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1) trilayer junctions is studied based on density functional theory calculations. For enhanced performance, we propose δ -Cr-layer doping in GaN, close to the GaN/AlN interfaces. Depending on the doping concentration, Cr dopants produce local metallic (1 ML) or half-metallic (frac(1, 2) and frac(1, 4) ML) states surrounded by the host semiconductor materials. Very thin AlN barriers are predicted to yield a low TMR effect. These results help explain existing experimental results and are expected to be valuable with regard to the practical fabrication of improved pure semiconductor spintronic devices.",

keywords = "Density functional theory, Electronic structure, Tunneling magnetoresistance",

author = "Cui, {X. Y.} and B. Delley and Freeman, {A. J.} and C. Stampfl",

note = "Funding Information: We acknowledge the computing resources provided by the APAC and AC3 supercomputer centres and support from the ARC, Australia, and from the NSF (through its MRSEC program at the Northwestern Materials Research Center).",

year = "2010",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1016/j.jmmm.2009.09.060",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "322",

pages = "395--399",

journal = "Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials",

issn = "0304-8853",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

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T2 - Cr δ -layer doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1)

AU - Cui, X. Y.

AU - Delley, B.

AU - Freeman, A. J.

AU - Stampfl, C.

N1 - Funding Information: We acknowledge the computing resources provided by the APAC and AC3 supercomputer centres and support from the ARC, Australia, and from the NSF (through its MRSEC program at the Northwestern Materials Research Center).

PY - 2010/2

Y1 - 2010/2

N2 - The microscopic mechanism of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in Cr-doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1) trilayer junctions is studied based on density functional theory calculations. For enhanced performance, we propose δ -Cr-layer doping in GaN, close to the GaN/AlN interfaces. Depending on the doping concentration, Cr dopants produce local metallic (1 ML) or half-metallic (frac(1, 2) and frac(1, 4) ML) states surrounded by the host semiconductor materials. Very thin AlN barriers are predicted to yield a low TMR effect. These results help explain existing experimental results and are expected to be valuable with regard to the practical fabrication of improved pure semiconductor spintronic devices.

AB - The microscopic mechanism of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in Cr-doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1) trilayer junctions is studied based on density functional theory calculations. For enhanced performance, we propose δ -Cr-layer doping in GaN, close to the GaN/AlN interfaces. Depending on the doping concentration, Cr dopants produce local metallic (1 ML) or half-metallic (frac(1, 2) and frac(1, 4) ML) states surrounded by the host semiconductor materials. Very thin AlN barriers are predicted to yield a low TMR effect. These results help explain existing experimental results and are expected to be valuable with regard to the practical fabrication of improved pure semiconductor spintronic devices.

KW - Density functional theory

KW - Electronic structure

KW - Tunneling magnetoresistance

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DO - 10.1016/j.jmmm.2009.09.060

M3 - Article

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SN - 0304-8853

VL - 322

SP - 395

EP - 399

JO - Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials

JF - Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials

IS - 4

ER -

Tunnel magnetoresistance in trilayer junctions from first principles: Cr δ -layer doped GaN/AlN/GaN (0 0 0 1)

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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