Vertical transport and tunnelling in rare-earth nitride heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper explores the electronic and magnetic properties of rare-earth nitride heterostructures, demonstrating their potential for cryogenic electronics and spintronics through tunneling magnetoresistance and non-volatile memory applications.

Contribution

It introduces REN/insulator/REN heterostructures with tunneling characteristics and high tunneling magnetoresistance, advancing spintronic device development.

Findings

Demonstrated tunneling magnetoresistance of 400%

Identified suitable ohmic contacts for electron transport

Observed hysteresis indicating potential for non-volatile memory

Abstract

We report an investigation of the ferromagnetic semiconductor rare earth nitrides (RENs) for their potential for cryogenic-temperature electronics and spintronics application. We have indentified ohmic contacts suitable for the device structures that demand electron transport through interface layers, and grown REN/insulator/REN heterostructures that display tunnelling characteristics, an enormous 400% tunneling magnetoresistance and a hysteresis promising their exploitation in non-volatile magnetic random access memory.