MRHELIMAG

Spin-Transport in inhomogeneous Ferromagnets

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'It is the aim of this research project to carry out systematic studies of spin-dependent transport in heavy rare earth (RE) metals based multilayered nanostructures. These nanoscale heterostructures made of layered rare earth metals would combine in variety of ways species bearing different magnetic character, such as ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order, as well as magnetic layers with non magnetic spacers. There exists a substantial gap in the literature regarding magnetoresistance (MR) studies on rare earth nanostructures, which would be of general interest for basic knowledge to fill in. This way, of particular interest will be to perform MR experiments for current perpendicular to plane configuration in vertically nanostructured RE-based systems, where the magnetic RE slabs show helical antiferromagnetic (AFM) order. For these structures, there exist recent investigations that clearly point to the breaking of the chiral symmetry at the interfaces. This chiral asymmetry in helical AFM is likely to lead to much striking effects in the magneto-transport phenomenology of such so far unexplored nanostructures that we now coin as the so-called anisotropic chiral magnetoresistance in analogy to the already proposed electrical magnetochiral anisotropy in chiral conductors. A second topic that will very much focus our attention is the study of magneto transport in multilayered nanostructures of rare earth metals that would combine ferromagnetic, helical AFM and non-magnetic layers. These studies will look to test recent theoretical predictions that forecast a significant enhancement for the overall performance of such nanostructures, which includes nanostructured slabs with helical magnetic order that bear a spin spiral density wave, for current-driven spin-torque transfer effect devices with nanotechnology applications in the field of microwave oscillator systems for high-frequency communication technology.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Recent advances in spin transport and magnetism have led to the emergence of a new field referred to as spintronics. Scientists have added an important piece to the spintronics puzzle, providing missing studies of heavy rare earth (RE) elements.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Phenomena such as giant magnetoresistance in hybrid structures combining ferromagnetic and non-magnetic materials are providing novel capabilities for memory storage, biosensors and more. Heavy RE metals are an interesting family of elements that has received extensive attention recently as well.

These metals crystallise into a wide variety of magnetic structures and their unique chemical and physical properties have led to many new applications. However, there is an important gap in the literature regarding the magnetoresistance of RE nanostructures.

The EU-funded project 'Spin-transport in inhomogeneous ferromagnets' (MRHELIMAG) was launched to carry out systematic studies in multi-layered RE nanostructures.

Scientists set out to test recent theoretical predictions regarding spin-dependent scattering with an eye on microwave oscillator systems for high-frequency communication technology. The team produced high-quality epitaxial films in order to conduct experiments that enabled correlations between magnetoresistance and the magnetic state of the RE multi-layer.

The work paves the way to exploration of complex spintronics effects in heavy RE metals and other materials that do not exhibit conventional spin-aligned ferromagnetic order. It also supports characterisation and development of other such material systems with equivalent behaviours that may be closer to commercial applications.