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Reversible spin storage in metal oxide-fullerene heterojunctions
T Moorsom1, M Rogers1, I Scivetti2
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Science Advances
|March 29, 2020
Summary
Researchers developed a spin capacitor using hybrid manganese oxide/fullerene heterojunctions. This device stores spin-polarized charge, demonstrating potential for novel magnetic memory technologies with long coherence times at room temperature.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Spintronics
Background:
- Developing novel materials for charge storage is crucial for advanced electronic devices.
- Spintronics offers potential for high-density, low-power data storage by utilizing electron spin in addition to charge.
- Hybrid organic-inorganic interfaces present unique opportunities for novel electronic functionalities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate a novel spin capacitor based on hybrid manganese oxide/fullerene (MnOx/C60) heterojunctions.
- To investigate the mechanisms of spin-polarized charge trapping and storage at the hybrid interface.
- To characterize the electronic and magnetic properties of the stored spin-polarized states.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of MnOx/C60 heterojunctions.
- Application of voltage/photocurrent to induce spin-polarized charge trapping.
- X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to probe electronic structure changes.
- Density functional theory (DFT) simulations for theoretical validation.
- Muon spin spectroscopy (μSR) to confirm local spin ordering and magnetic moments.
Main Results:
- Hybrid MnOx/C60 heterojunctions function as a spin capacitor, trapping spin-polarized charge.
- Significant electronic structure modifications observed, including a 1-eV energy shift and spin polarization in the C60 lowest unoccupied molecular orbital.
- XAS and DFT simulations confirm these electronic changes.
- μSR measurements provide independent evidence of optically/electronically stored local spin ordering and magnetic moments.
- Stored spin states dissipate upon electrode shorting.
- Spin storage decay time is governed by interfacial magnetic ordering, enabling coherence times from seconds to hours at room temperature.
Conclusions:
- Hybrid MnOx/C60 heterojunctions enable efficient storage of spin-polarized charge.
- The observed long coherence times at room temperature highlight the potential of these materials for spintronic applications.
- This work establishes a new paradigm for spin-based data storage devices.
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