Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance driven by resonant surface states: First-principles calculations of Fe(001) surface

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles calculations to show that resonant surface states and spin-orbit coupling can significantly influence tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in Fe(001) surfaces, with implications for magnetic tunnel junctions.

Contribution

It reveals how resonant surface states and spin-orbit interactions drive tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in Fe(001), highlighting the role of surface states and Rashba effect.

Findings

Resonant surface states can produce sizeable tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance.

Spin-orbit coupling shifts surface bands via the Rashba effect with magnetization changes.

Spin-flip scattering depends on spin-orbit strength and surface state width.

Abstract

Fully-relativistic first-principles calculations of the Fe(001) surface demonstrate that resonant surface (interface) states may produce sizeable tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions with a single magnetic electrode. The effect is driven by the spin-orbit coupling. It shifts the resonant surface band via the Rashba effect when the magnetization direction changes. We find that spin-flip scattering at the interface is controlled not only by the strength of the spin-orbit coupling, but depends strongly on the intrinsic width of the resonant surface states.