Large magnetoresistance and spin-dependent output voltage in a lateral MnGa/GaAs/MnGa spin-valve device

TL;DR

This study demonstrates significant magnetoresistance and spin-dependent voltage in a lateral MnGa/GaAs/MnGa device, highlighting its potential for spintronic applications with high efficiency at low temperatures.

Contribution

It reports the highest magnetoresistance ratio and spin-dependent voltage in lateral ferromagnetic metal/semiconductor/ferromagnetic metal spin-valve devices to date.

Findings

Magnetoresistance ratio up to 12% at 4 K

Spin-dependent output voltage of 33 mV

Tunnel transport dominates below 50 K

Abstract

We investigated the spin-dependent transport properties of a lateral spin-valve device with a 600 nm-long GaAs channel and ferromagnetic MnGa electrodes with perpendicular magnetization. Its current-voltage characteristics show nonlinear behavior below 50 K, indicating that tunnel transport through the MnGa/GaAs Schottky barrier is dominant at low temperatures. We observed clear magnetoresistance (MR) ratio up to 12% at 4 K when applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the film plane. Furthermore, a large spin-dependent output voltage of 33 mV is obtained. These values are the highest in lateral ferromagnetic metal / semiconductor / ferromagnetic metal spin-valve devices reported so far.