Magnetic tunnel junctions no longer a mystery

Scientists have known for a long time that the current in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) depends heavily on the spin states at the interfaces between the ferromagnetic and insulating layers. Some states promote the flow of current, while others don’t. However, what scientists didn’t fully understand was why. Until now!

An international team that included researchers from INAC has just unlocked this mystery, using low-frequency noise spectroscopy to detect the band-edge energy at the interfaces. Noise anomalies can be used to assess the degree to which the spin-dependent states and different symmetries within the crystalline structure blend. The origin of this blend is the spin-orbit coupling.

The same spectroscopy technique could also be used to characterize the physical purity of a MTJ

Contact: mair.chshiev@cea.fr

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