Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Underlying mechanism for exchange bias in single-molecule magnetic junctions

Yu-Hui Tang* and Bao-Huei Huang

  • Department of Physics, National Central University, Jung-Li 32001, Taiwan

  • *yhtang@cc.ncu.edu.tw

Phys. Rev. Research 3, 033264 – Published 20 September, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.033264

Abstract

Magnetic proximity has been observed in a variety of solid-state magnetic devices, but has been less discussed at the molecular scale. In this study, the magnetotransport calculation is carried out using the generalized Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation combined with density functional theory (DFT) and our self-developed junpy calculated spin-torque effect. Except for the current driven spin torque, which is a promising approach for magnetization switch in magnetic random access memory, the equilibrium fieldlike spin torque also plays a crucial role in the strain-controlled exchange bias with current-controlled magnetic coercivity in single-molecule magnetic junctions. The tight-binding model is further employed to clarify the critical role of the interfacial spin filter effect arising from the hybridization between the linker and Co apex. These multidisciplinary DFT+junpy+LLG results may provide important and practical implications in the dual control of magnetic proximity and magnetization switching in molecular spintronics at low temperature, either by tensile strain or via smaller applied current density of the order of MA/cm2.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (50)

  1. C. Leighton, M. R. Fitzsimmons, P. Yashar, A. Hoffmann, J. Nogués, J. Dura, C. F. Majkrzak, and I. K. Schuller, Two-Stage Magnetization Reversal in Exchange Biased Bilayers, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4394 (2001).
  2. W.-G. Wang, M. Li, S. Hageman, and C. L. Chien, Electric-field-assisted switching in magnetic tunnel junctions, Nat. Mater. 11, 64 (2012).
  3. J. Nogués and I. K. Schuller, Exchange bias, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 192, 203 (1999).
  4. B.-Y. Wang, C.-C. Chiu, W.-C. Lin, and M.-T. Lin, Enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Fe/Mn bilayers by incorporating ultrathin ferromagnetic underlayer through magnetic proximity effect, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 042407 (2013).
  5. P. K. Srivastava, Y. Hassan, H. Ahn, B. Kang, S.-G. Jung, Y. Gebredingle, M. Joe, M. S. Abbas, T. Park, J.-G. Park, K.-J. Lee, and C. Lee, Exchange bias effect in ferro-/antiferromagnetic van der Waals heterostructures, Nano Lett. 20, 3978 (2020).
  6. Y. Fan, K. J. Smith, G. Lüpke, A. T. Hanbicki, R. Goswami, C. H. Li, H. B. Zhao, and B. T. Jonker, Exchange bias of the interface spin system at the Fe/Mgo interface, Nat. Nanotechnol. 8, 438 (2013).
  7. P.-H. Lin, B.-Y. Yang, M.-H. Tsai, P.-C. Chen, K.-F. Huang, H.-H. Lin, and C.-H. Lai, Manipulating exchange bias by spin-orbit torque, Nat. Mater. 18, 335 (2019).
  8. P. M. Haney, C. Heiliger, and M. D. Stiles, Bias dependence of magnetic exchange interactions: Application to interlayer exchange coupling in spin valves, Phys. Rev. B 79, 054405 (2009).
  9. Y.-H. Tang, N. Kioussis, A. Kalitsov, W. H. Butler, and R. Car, Controlling the Nonequilibrium Interlayer Exchange Coupling in Asymmetric Magnetic Tunnel Junctions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 057206 (2009).
  10. C. Ortiz Pauyac, A. Kalitsov, A. Manchon, and M. Chshiev, Spin-transfer torque in spin filter tunnel junctions, Phys. Rev. B 90, 235417 (2014).
  11. Y.-H. Tang, F.-C. Chu, and N. Kioussis, Dual control of giant field-like spin torque in spin filter tunnel junctions, Sci. Rep. 5, 11341 (2015).
  12. Y.-H. Tang, Z.-W. Huang, and B.-H. Huang, Analytic expression for the giant fieldlike spin torque in spin-filter magnetic tunnel junctions, Phys. Rev. B 96, 064429 (2017).
  13. J. M. De Teresa, A. Barthélémy, A. Fert, J. P. Contour, F. Montaigne, and P. Seneor, Role of metal-oxide interface in determining the spin polarization of magnetic tunnel junctions, Science 286, 507 (1999).
  14. Z. H. Xiong, D. Wu, Z. V. Vardeny, and J. Shi, Giant magnetoresistance in organic spin-valves, Nature (London) 427, 821 (2004).
  15. J. C. Slonczewski, Currents, torques, and polarization factors in magnetic tunnel junctions, Phys. Rev. B 71, 024411 (2005).
  16. I. Theodonis, N. Kioussis, A. Kalitsov, M. Chshiev, and W. H. Butler, Anomalous Bias Dependence of Spin Torque in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 237205 (2006).
  17. Y.-H. Tang, N. Kioussis, A. Kalitsov, W. H. Butler, and R. Car, Influence of asymmetry on bias behavior of spin torque, Phys. Rev. B 81, 054437 (2010).
  18. S. Sanvito, The rise of spinterface science, Nat. Phys. 6, 562 (2010).
  19. C.-H. Hsu, Y.-H. Chu, C.-I. Lu, P.-J. Hsu, S.-W. Chen, W.-J. Hsueh, C.-C. Kaun, and M.-T. Lin, Spin-polarized transport through single manganese phthalocyanine molecules on a Co nanoisland, J. Phys. Chem. C 119, 3374 (2015).
  20. M. Cinchetti, V. A. Dediu, and L. E. Hueso, Activating the molecular spinterface, Nat. Mater. 16, 507 (2017).
  21. X. Zhang, J. Tong, L. Ruan, X. Yao, L. Zhou, F. Tian, and G. Qin, Interface hybridization and spin filter effect in metal-free phthalocyanine spin valves, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 22, 11663 (2020).
  22. R. Yamada, M. Noguchi, and H. Tada, Magnetoresistance of single molecular junctions measured by a mechanically controllable break junction method, Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 053110 (2011).
  23. R. J. Brooke, C. Jin, D. S. Szumski, R. J. Nichols, B.-W. Mao, K. S. Thygesen, and W. Schwarzacher, Single-molecule electrochemical transistor utilizing a nickel-pyridyl spinterface, Nano Lett. 15, 275 (2015).
  24. S. Ding, Y. Tian, Y. Li, W. Mi, H. Dong, X. Zhang, W. Hu, and D. Zhu, Inverse magnetoresistance in polymer spin valves, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 9, 15644 (2017).
  25. A. C. Aragonès, E. Medina, M. Ferrer-Huerta, N. Gimeno, M. Teixidó, J. L. Palma, N. Tao, J. M. Ugalde, E. Giralt, I. Díez-Pérez, and V. Mujica, Measuring the spin-polarization power of a single chiral molecule, Small 13, 1602519 (2017).
  26. G. Ke, C. Duan, F. Huang, and X. Guo, Electrical and spin switches in single-molecule junctions, InfoMat 2, 92 (2020).
  27. D. Liu, Y. Hu, H. Guo, and X. F. Han, Magnetic proximity effect at the molecular scale: First-principles calculations, Phys. Rev. B 78, 193307 (2008).
  28. S. Mandal and R. Pati, What determines the sign reversal of magnetoresistance in a molecular tunnel junction? ACS Nano 6, 3580 (2012).
  29. D. Li, R. Banerjee, S. Mondal, I. Maliyov, M. Romanova, Y. J. Dappe, and A. Smogunov, Symmetry aspects of spin filtering in molecular junctions: Hybridization and quantum interference effects, Phys. Rev. B 99, 115403 (2019).
  30. S. Li, Y. Wang, Y. Wang, S. Sanvito, and S. Hou, High-performance spin filters based on 1,2,4,5-tetrahydroxybenzene molecules attached to bulk nickel electrodes, J. Phys. Chem. C 125, 6945 (2021).
  31. S. Haku, A. Ishikawa, A. Musha, H. Nakayama, T. Yamamoto, and K. Ando, Surface Rashba-Edelstein Spin-Orbit Torque Revealed by Molecular Self-Assembly, Phys. Rev. Appl. 13, 044069 (2020).
  32. Y.-H. Tang and B.-H. Huang, Manipulation of giant field-like spin torque in amine-ended single-molecule magnetic junctions, J. Phys. Chem. C 122, 20500 (2018).
  33. B. Q. Xu, X. L. Li, X. Y. Xiao, H. Sakaguchi, and N. J. Tao, Electromechanical and conductance switching properties of single oligothiophene molecules, Nano Lett. 5, 1491 (2005).
  34. M. Ratner, A brief history of molecular electronics, Nat. Nanotechnol. 8, 378 (2013).
  35. T. A. Su, M. Neupane, M. L. Steigerwald, L. Venkataraman, and C. Nuckolls, Chemical principles of single-molecule electronics, Nat. Rev. Mater. 1, 16002 (2016).
  36. P. Gehring, J. M. Thijssen, and H. S. J. van der Zant, Single-molecule quantum-transport phenomena in break junctions, Nat. Rev. Phys. 1, 381 (2019).
  37. B.-H. Huang, C.-C. Chao, and Y.-H. Tang, Thickness dependence of spin torque effect in Fe/Mgo/Fe magnetic tunnel junction: Implementation of divide-and-conquer with first-principles calculation, AIP Adv. 11, 015036 (2021).
  38. The detailed information of our self-developed junpy package can be found at https://labstt.phy.ncu.edu.tw/junpy.
  39. P. Giannozzi, S. Baroni, N. Bonini, M. Calandra, R. Car, C. Cavazzoni, D. Ceresoli, G. L. Chiarotti, M. Cococcioni, I. Dabo, A. D. Corso, S. de Gironcoli, S. Fabris, G. Fratesi, R. Gebauer, U. Gerstmann, C. Gougoussis, A. Kokalj, M. Lazzeri, L. Martin-Samos et al., quantum espresso: A modular and open-source software project for quantum simulations of materials, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 21, 395502 (2009).
  40. J. P. Perdew, K. Burke, and M. Ernzerhof, Generalized Gradient Approximation Made Simple, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865 (1996).
  41. D. Waldron, L. Liu, and H. Guo, Ab initio simulation of magnetic tunnel junctions, Nanotechnology 18, 424026 (2007).
  42. J. Taylor, H. Guo, and J. Wang, Ab initio modeling of quantum transport properties of molecular electronic devices, Phys. Rev. B 63, 245407 (2001).
  43. Y. Ke, K. Xia, and H. Guo, Disorder Scattering in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions: Theory of Nonequilibrium Vertex Correction, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 166805 (2008).
  44. D. J. P. de Sousa, P. M. Haney, D. L. Zhang, J. P. Wang, and T. Low, Bidirectional switching assisted by interlayer exchange coupling in asymmetric magnetic tunnel junctions, Phys. Rev. B 101, 081404(R) (2020).
  45. J. Xiao, A. Zangwill, and M. D. Stiles, Macrospin models of spin transfer dynamics, Phys. Rev. B 72, 014446 (2005).
  46. Y. H. Tang and C. J. Lin, Strain-enhanced spin injection in amine-ended single-molecule magnetic junctions, J. Phys. Chem. C 120, 692 (2016).
  47. A. A. Timopheev, R. Sousa, M. Chshiev, L. D. Buda-Prejbeanu, and B. Dieny, Respective influence of in-plane and out-of-plane spin-transfer torques in magnetization switching of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions, Phys. Rev. B 92, 104430 (2015).
  48. J. R. Petta, S. K. Slater, and D. C. Ralph, Spin-Dependent Transport in Molecular Tunnel Junctions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 136601 (2004).
  49. L. Bogani and W. Wernsdorfer, Molecular spintronics using single-molecule magnets, Nat. Mater. 7, 179 (2008).
  50. K.-R. Chiang and Y.-H. Tang, Effect of contact geometry on spin transport in amine-ended single-molecule magnetic junctions, ACS Omega 6, 19386 (2021).

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation