Spin-dependent transport properties of Fe3O4/MoS2/Fe3O4 junctions.

Magnetite is a half-metal with a high Curie temperature of 858 K, making it a promising candidate for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Yet, initial efforts to exploit its half metallic nature in Fe3O4/MgO/Fe3O4 MTJ structures have been far from promising. Finding suitable barrier layer materials, which keep the half metallic nature of Fe3O4 at the interface between Fe3O4 layers and barrier layer, is one of main challenges in this field.

Electrical-field-driven metal-insulator transition tuned with self-aligned atomic defects.

Recently, significant attention has been paid to the resistance switching (RS) behaviour in Fe3O4 and it was explained through the analogy of the electrically driven metal-insulator transition based on the quantum tunneling theory. Here, we propose a method to experimentally support this explanation and provide a way to tune the critical switching parameter by introducing self-aligned localized impurities through the growth of Fe3O4 thin films on stepped SrTiO3 substrates. Anisotropic behavior in the RS was observed, where a lower switching voltage in the range of 10(4) V cm(-1) is required to switch Fe3O4 from a high conducting state to a low conducting state when the electrical field is applied along the steps.

Magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial thin film MgFe2O4 grown on MgO (100) by molecular beam epitaxy.

Magnesium ferrite is a very important magnetic material due to its interesting magnetic and electrical properties and its chemical and thermal stability. Here we report on the magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial MgFe2O4 thin films grown on MgO (001) by molecular beam epitaxy. The structural properties and chemical composition of the MgFe2O4 films were characterized by X-Ray diffraction and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively.