Momentum-Resolved Tunneling Modulation Induced Giant Multistate Resistance in Antiferroelectric Multiferroic...

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Multiferroic tunnel junctions (MFTJs) integrate ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties for nonvolatile memory.
• Conventional MFTJs face a trade-off between read/write efficiency and tunnel electroresistance (TER) due to ferroelectric polarization switching.
• Achieving high TER in MFTJs is limited by the strong electric fields required for ferroelectric switching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and investigate a novel dual mechanism for MFTJs to overcome the limitations of conventional designs.
• To achieve significantly enhanced tunnel electroresistance (TER) and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in MFTJs.
• To enable nonvolatile, multistate memory with improved performance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Fe3GaTe2/bilayer-α-In2Se3/Fe3GaTe2 heterostructure.
• Employed antiferroelectric (AFE) phase-transition modulation of evanescent decay states.
• Integrated interfacial spin filtering at the ferromagnetic/insulator interface.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a giant TER of ~7.6 × 10^3%, exceeding conventional MFTJs by over 4 times.
• Achieved a TMR exceeding 6.8 × 10^5%, an enhancement of 2 orders of magnitude over typical MFTJs.
• Enabled six distinct nonvolatile resistance states at room temperature.

Conclusions:

• The proposed dual mechanism effectively resolves the performance trade-off in MFTJs.
• This approach offers a pathway to next-generation nonvolatile, multistate memory devices.
• The findings pave the way for innovative computing paradigms leveraging MFTJs.