Deposition Of Iron Oxide For Magneto-Electric Tunnel Junctions

Deposition of Iron Oxide for Magneto-electric Tunnel Junctions

Magnetoelectric tunnel junctions are electronic devices that combine thin films of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials, and whose electrical resistance can be controlled by applying a magnetic or electric field [1]. They are currently being developed to introduce novel pathways for information storage and manipulation. Due to the magnetoelectric effect, these devices may allow the control of the magnetization by an electric field [2], which requires less energy than an electrical current and results in reduced power consumption. Another major advantage includes increased memory capacity by adding the ferroelectric polarization as an additional degree of freedom [3]. Here, films of ferromagnetic iron oxide were produced via chemical vapor deposition. The films were grown on MgO (100) substrate and then characterized in terms of structural and magnetic properties. Structural characterization included scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. Magnetic characterization involved measurements using an alternating gradient magnetometer.

References

 [1] Kim, G., D. Mazumdar, and A. Gupta. (2013). Nanoscale electroresistance properties of all-oxide magneto-electric tunnel junction with ultra-thin barium titanate barrier. Applied Physics Letters 102, 052908; DOI: 10.1063/1.4791699.

 [2] Garcia, V. et al. (2010). Ferroelectric Control of Spin Polarization. Science, 327, 1106; DOI: 10.1126/science.1184028.

 [3] Bibes, Manuel and Agnès Barthélémy. (2008). Towards a magnetoelectric memory. Nature,  7, 425-426; DOI: 10.1038/nmat2189.