Flexible MgO Barrier Magnetic Tunnel Junctions.

Flexible MgO barrier magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices are fabricated using a transfer printing process. The flexible MTJ devices yield significantly enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance of ≈300% and improved abruptness of switching, as residual strain in the MTJ structure is released during the transfer process. This approach could be useful for flexible electronic systems that require high-performance memory components.

Strain-enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions.

While the effects of lattice mismatch-induced strain, mechanical strain, as well as the intrinsic strain of thin films are sometimes detrimental, resulting in mechanical deformation and failure, strain can also be usefully harnessed for applications such as data storage, transistors, solar cells, and strain gauges, among other things. Here, we demonstrate that quantum transport across magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) can be significantly affected by the introduction of controllable mechanical strain, achieving an enhancement factor of ~2 in the experimental tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio. We further correlate this strain-enhanced TMR with coherent spin tunneling through the MgO barrier.

Spin-orbit torques in Co/Pd multilayer nanowires.

Current induced spin-orbit torques have been studied in ferromagnetic nanowires made of 20 nm thick Co/Pd multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Using Hall voltage and lock-in measurements, it is found that upon injection of an electric current both in-plane (Slonczewski-like) and perpendicular (fieldlike) torques build up in the nanowire. The torque efficiencies are found to be as large as 1.