IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-26915-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spin-neutral currents for spintronics

Author

Listed:
  • Ding-Fu Shao

    (University of Nebraska)

  • Shu-Hui Zhang

    (Beijing University of Chemical Technology)

  • Ming Li

    (University of Nebraska)

  • Chang-Beom Eom

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Evgeny Y. Tsymbal

    (University of Nebraska)

Abstract

Electric currents carrying a net spin polarization are widely used in spintronics, whereas globally spin-neutral currents are expected to play no role in spin-dependent phenomena. Here we show that, in contrast to this common expectation, spin-independent conductance in compensated antiferromagnets and normal metals can be efficiently exploited in spintronics, provided their magnetic space group symmetry supports a non-spin-degenerate Fermi surface. Due to their momentum-dependent spin polarization, such antiferromagnets can be used as active elements in antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions (AFMTJs) and produce a giant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. Using RuO2 as a representative compensated antiferromagnet exhibiting spin-independent conductance along the [001] direction but a non-spin-degenerate Fermi surface, we design a RuO2/TiO2/RuO2 (001) AFMTJ, where a globally spin-neutral charge current is controlled by the relative orientation of the Néel vectors of the two RuO2 electrodes, resulting in the TMR effect as large as ~500%. These results are expanded to normal metals which can be used as a counter electrode in AFMTJs with a single antiferromagnetic layer or other elements in spintronic devices. Our work uncovers an unexplored potential of the materials with no global spin polarization for utilizing them in spintronics.

Suggested Citation

  • Ding-Fu Shao & Shu-Hui Zhang & Ming Li & Chang-Beom Eom & Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, 2021. "Spin-neutral currents for spintronics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26915-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26915-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26915-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-26915-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Makoto Naka & Satoru Hayami & Hiroaki Kusunose & Yuki Yanagi & Yukitoshi Motome & Hitoshi Seo, 2019. "Spin current generation in organic antiferromagnets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sonka Reimers & Lukas Odenbreit & Libor Šmejkal & Vladimir N. Strocov & Procopios Constantinou & Anna B. Hellenes & Rodrigo Jaeschke Ubiergo & Warlley H. Campos & Venkata K. Bharadwaj & Atasi Chakrabo, 2024. "Direct observation of altermagnetic band splitting in CrSb thin films," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Helena Reichlova & Rafael Lopes Seeger & Rafael González-Hernández & Ismaila Kounta & Richard Schlitz & Dominik Kriegner & Philipp Ritzinger & Michaela Lammel & Miina Leiviskä & Anna Birk Hellenes & K, 2024. "Observation of a spontaneous anomalous Hall response in the Mn5Si3 d-wave altermagnet candidate," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Song-Bo Zhang & Lun-Hui Hu & Titus Neupert, 2024. "Finite-momentum Cooper pairing in proximitized altermagnets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rafael González-Hernández & Philipp Ritzinger & Karel Výborný & Jakub Železný & Aurélien Manchon, 2024. "Non-relativistic torque and Edelstein effect in non-collinear magnets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Song-Bo Zhang & Lun-Hui Hu & Titus Neupert, 2024. "Finite-momentum Cooper pairing in proximitized altermagnets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Hiroki Koizumi & Yuichi Yamasaki & Hideto Yanagihara, 2023. "Quadrupole anomalous Hall effect in magnetically induced electron nematic state," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26915-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.