Spin-valve effects in nickel/silicon/nickel junctions

Author

Jia, Y.Q. ; Shi, Rick C. ; Chou, Stephen Y.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis, MN, USA

Volume

32

Issue

5

fYear

1996

fDate

9/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

4707

Lastpage

4709

Abstract

We report on fabrication and characterization of a planar spin-valve device which has two sets of interdigited nanoscale Ni fingers as two electrodes in Schottky contact with Si. The finger width is 75 nm for one set and 150 nm for the other. A large length-to-width ratio of the fingers results in a single domain magnetization and a sharp magneto-resistance (MR) response. The switching field of the finger is determined by the finger width and spacing due to magnetostatic interaction. MR measurements reveal spin-valve effects in the Ni/Si/Ni junctions with MR changes of 0.3-0.6% at room temperature. The effects are discussed within a spin-valve model

Keywords

Schottky barriers; electron beam lithography; elemental semiconductors; ferromagnetic materials; giant magnetoresistance; interface magnetism; magnetic multilayers; magnetic switching; magnetisation; nickel; semiconductor-metal boundaries; silicon; 150 nm; 20 C; 75 nm; MR changes; Ni-Si-Ni; Ni/Si/Ni; Ni/Si/Ni junctions; Schottky contact; Si; electrodes; fabrication; finger width; interdigited nanoscale Ni fingers; length-to-width ratio; magnetostatic interaction; nickel/silicon/nickel junctions; planar spin-valve device; room temperature; sharp magneto-resistance response; single domain magnetization; spin-valve effects; spin-valve model; switching field; Electrodes; Fabrication; Fingers; Magnetic domains; Magnetization; Magnetostatics; Nanoscale devices; Nickel; Schottky barriers; Silicon;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.539125

Filename

539125