Gate control of spin-polarized conductance in alloyed transitional metal nanocontacts

Ilia N. Sivkov, Oleg O. Brovko, Ivan Rungger, and Valeri S. Stepanyuk
Phys. Rev. B 95, 104405 – Published 8 March 2017
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Abstract

To date, endeavors in nanoscale spintronics are dominated by the use of single-electron or single-spin transistors having at their heart a semiconductor, metallic, or molecular quantum dot whose localized states are non-spin-degenerate and can be controlled by an external bias applied via a gate electrode. Adjusting the bias of the gate one can realign those states with respect to the chemical potentials of the leads and thus tailor the spin-polarized transmission properties of the device. Here we show that similar functionality can be achieved in a purely metallic junction comprised of a metallic magnetic chain attached to metallic paramagnetic leads and biased by a gate electrode. Our ab initio calculations of electron transport through mixed Pt-Fe (Fe-Pd and Fe-Rh) atomic chains suspended between Pt (Pd and Rh) electrodes show that spin-polarized confined states of the chain can be shifted by the gate bias causing a change in the relative contributions of majority and minority channels to the nanocontact's conductance. As a result, we observe strong dependence of conductance spin polarization on the applied gate potential. In some cases the spin polarization of conductance can even be reversed in sign upon gate potential application, which is a remarkable and promising trait for spintronic applications.

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  • Received 26 December 2016
  • Revised 15 February 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.95.104405

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Ilia N. Sivkov1,2,3, Oleg O. Brovko4, Ivan Rungger5, and Valeri S. Stepanyuk3

  • 1ETH Zürich 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
  • 2CSCS Lugano, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland
  • 3Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
  • 4The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), 34151 Trieste, Italy
  • 5National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 10 — 1 March 2017

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