Direct observation of a highly spin-polarized organic spinterface at room temperature

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a highly spin-polarized organic spinterface at room temperature, combining experimental and theoretical insights to enable efficient, scalable spintronic devices with organic-inorganic interfaces.

Contribution

It provides the first combined experimental and theoretical evidence of a highly spin-polarized organic spinterface at room temperature, offering a new approach for spintronic device engineering.

Findings

High spin polarization observed at room temperature at the Co-phthalocyanine interface.

Magnetic moments on nitrogen pi orbitals support spin-polarized charge conduction.

A proposed design recipe for stable organic-inorganic spintronic interfaces.

Abstract

The design of large-scale electronic circuits that are entirely spintronics-driven requires a current source that is highly spin-polarised at and beyond room temperature, cheap to build, efficient at the nanoscale and straightforward to integrate with semiconductors. Yet despite research within several subfields spanning nearly two decades, this key building block is still lacking. We experimentally and theoretically show how the interface between Co and phthalocyanine molecules constitutes a promising candidate. Spin-polarised direct and inverse photoemission experiments reveal a high degree of spin polarisation at room temperature at this interface. We measured a magnetic moment on the molecules's nitrogen pi orbitals, which substantiates an ab-initio theoretical description of highly spin-polarised charge conduction across the interface due to differing spinterface formation mechanims in each spin channel. We propose, through this example, a recipe to engineer simple organic-inorganic interfaces with remarkable spintronic properties that can endure well above room temperature.