A Four-State Magnetic Tunnel Junction for Novel Spintronics Applications (IMAGE)
Caption
Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) currently used in central spintronic applications have two resistance states. Now researchers from Bar-Ilan University's Department of Physics and Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, together with a group from Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa and INESC Microsystems and Nanotechnologies, have introduced a new type of MTJs which exhibit four resistance states, and successfully demonstrated switching between the states with spin currents. The increased number of states is achieved by replacing one of the magnetic layers with a structure in the form of two crossing ellipses paving the way for MTJs with even larger number of states. The image shows schematics of the device and actual pictures taken with a scanning electron microscope. This research appears as an Editor's Pick article in an August issue of Applied Physics Letters.
Credit
Dr. Shubhankar Das, Ariel Zaig, Dr. Moty Schultz, Prof. Susana Cardoso, Dr. Diana C. Leitao, Prof. Lior Klein
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