Large Spin Polarization from symmetry-breaking Antiferromagnets in Antiferromagnetic Tunnel Junctions

Chung-Tao Chou, Supriya Ghosh, Brooke C. McGoldrick, Thanh Nguyen, Gautam Gurung, Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, Mingda Li, K. Andre Mkhoyan and Luqiao Liu ()
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Chung-Tao Chou: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Supriya Ghosh: University of Minnesota
Brooke C. McGoldrick: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gautam Gurung: University of Oxford
Evgeny Y. Tsymbal: University of Nebraska
Mingda Li: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
K. Andre Mkhoyan: University of Minnesota
Luqiao Liu: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Efficient detection of the magnetic state is a critical step towards useful antiferromagnet-based spintronic devices. Recently, finite tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) has been demonstrated in tunnel junctions with antiferromagnetic electrodes, however, these studies have been mostly limited to junctions with two identical antiferromagnet (AFM) electrodes, where the matching of the spin-split Fermi surfaces played critical role. It remains unclear if AFMs can provide a finite net spin polarization, and hence be used as a spin polarizer or detector. In this work, we experimentally fabricate single-sided antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions consisting of one AFM electrode (Mn3Sn) and one ferromagnet (FM) electrode (CoFeB), where the spin polarized tunneling transport from AFM is detected by the FM layer. We observe a high TMR at cryogenic temperature (>100% at 10 K) in these asymmetric AFM tunnel junctions, suggesting a large effective spin polarization from Mn3Sn despite its nearly vanishing magnetization. The large TMR is consistent with recent theoretical studies where the broken symmetry in non-collinear AFMs is predicted to lift the spin degeneracy in the band structure. Our work provides strong evidence that spin polarized electrical transport can be achieved from AFMs.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52208-6

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