Spin blockade in ferromagnetic nanocontacts

Authors

M. Ye Zhuralev, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Sitaram Jaswal, University of NebraskaFollow
A.V. Vedyayev, CEA/Grenoble, Departement de Recherche Fondamentale sur la Matiere Condensee, SPINTEC
B. Dieny, CEA/Grenoble, Departement de Recherche Fondamentale sur la Matiere Condensee, SPINTEC

Date of this Version

10-27-2003

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 3534-3536 (2003). © 2003 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://apl.aip.org/.

Abstract

Using a free-electron model and a linear response theory we investigate spin-dependent electronic transport in magnetic nanocontacts in the ballistic regime of conduction. We emphasize the fact that in atomic-size ferromagnetic contacts it is possible to achieve the conductance value of e²/h, which implies a fully spin-polarized electric current. We explore some consequences of this phenomenon. In particular, we show that the presence of a nonmagnetic region in the nanocontact separating two ferromagnetic electrodes can lead to a spin blockade resulting in very large values of magnetoresistance.