2004/11/09 by Zhong-Yi Lu, Zhong‐Yi Lu, X.-G. Zhang +2 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.94.207210
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 207210 (2005) · 4 figures in 5 eps files
arxiv created 2004/11/09 · openalex publication_date 2005/05/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Quantum-well (QW) states in nonmagnetic metal films between magnetic layers are known to be important in spin-dependent transport, but QW states in magnetic films remains elusive. Here we identify the conditions for resonant tunneling through QW states in magnetic films and report first principles calculations of Fe/MgO/FeO/Fe/Cr and Co/MgO/Fe/Cr. We show that, at resonance, the current increases by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. The tunneling magnetoresistance ratio is much larger than in simple spin tunnel junctions and is positive (negative) for majority- (minority-) spin resonances, with a large asymmetry between positive and negative biases. The results can serve as a basis for novel spintronic devices.