Effect of Tip Resonances on Tunnelling Anisotropic Magnetoresistance in Ferromagnetic Break Junctions: A First-Principles Study

Authors

J. D. Burton, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
Renat F. Sabirianov, University of Nebraska at OmahaFollow
Julian P. Velev, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Oleg N. Mryasov, Seagate Research, Pittsburgh, PAFollow
Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2007

Publication Title

Physical Review B

Volume

76

Abstract

First-principles calculations of electron tunneling transport in nanoscale Ni and Co break-junctions reveal strong dependence of the conductance on the magnetization direction, an effect known as tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance TAMR. An important aspect of this phenomenon stems from resonant states localized in the electrodes near the junction break. The energy and broadening of these states is strongly affected by the magnetization orientation due to spin-orbit coupling, causing TAMR to be sensitive to bias voltage on a scale of a few millivolts. Our results bear a resemblance to recent experimental data and suggest that TAMR driven by resonant states is a general phenomenon typical for magnetic broken contacts. This effect may be observed in any experiment where a magnetic tip is used to probe electron transport, e.g., spin-polarized scanningtunneling measurements.

Comments

Published in Physical Review B 76, 144430 (2007). http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.76.144430. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.76.144430

Copyright 2007 The American Physical Society. Used by permission.

Recommended Citation

Burton, J. D.; Sabirianov, Renat F.; Velev, Julian P.; Mryasov, Oleg N.; and Tsymbal, Evgeny Y., "Effect of Tip Resonances on Tunnelling Anisotropic Magnetoresistance in Ferromagnetic Break Junctions: A First-Principles Study" (2007). Physics Faculty Publications. 33.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/physicsfacpub/33