A giant tunneling electroresistance effect driven by electrically controlled spin valve at a complex oxide interface

Authors

John D. Burton, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2011

Citation

Physical Review Letters 106, 157203 (2011). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.157203

Comments

Copyright © 2011 American Physical Society. Used by Permission.

Abstract

A giant tunneling electroresistance effect may be achieved in a ferroelectric tunnel junction by exploiting the magnetoelectric effect at the interface between the ferroelectric barrier and a magnetic La_1-xSr_xMnO₃ electrode. Using first-principles density-functional theory we demonstrate that a few magnetic monolayers of La_1-xSr_xMnO₃ near the interface act, in response to ferroelectric polarization reversal, as an atomic-scale spin valve by filtering spin-dependent current. This produces more than an order of magnitude change in conductance, and thus constitutes a giant resistive switching effect.