Tunneling magnetoresistance of Fe/ZnSe (001) single- and double-barrier junctions as a function of interface structure

TL;DR

This study investigates how interface termination affects spin-dependent tunneling and magnetoresistance in Fe/ZnSe (001) magnetic tunnel junctions, using tight-binding models and Landauer formalism to analyze electronic transport.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of the impact of interface structure on tunneling magnetoresistance in Fe/ZnSe junctions, combining ab initio parametrized tight-binding models with ballistic transport calculations.

Findings

Interface termination significantly influences tunneling magnetoresistance.

Double and simple junctions show different transport characteristics based on interface structure.

Electronic transport properties depend on the specific atomic termination at the interface.

Abstract

In this contribution, we calculate the spin-dependent ballistic and coherent transport through epitaxial Fe/ZnSe (001) simple and double magnetic tunnel junctions with two different interface terminations: Zn-terminated and Se-terminated. The electronic structure of the junctions is modeled by a second-nearest neighbors {\it spd} tight-binding Hamiltonian parametrized to {\it ab initio} calculated band structures, while the conductances and the tunneling magnetoresistance are calculated within Landauer's formalism. The calculations are done at zero bias voltage and as a function of energy. We show and discuss the influence of the interface structure on the spin-dependent transport through simple and double tunnel junctions.