In:
Nature, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 613, No. 7944 ( 2023-01-19), p. 490-495
Abstract:
The tunnelling electric current passing through a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is strongly dependent on the relative orientation of magnetizations in ferromagnetic electrodes sandwiching an insulating barrier, rendering efficient readout of spintronics devices 1–5 . Thus, tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) is considered to be proportional to spin polarization at the interface 1 and, to date, has been studied primarily in ferromagnets. Here we report observation of TMR in an all-antiferromagnetic tunnel junction consisting of Mn 3 Sn/MgO/Mn 3 Sn (ref. 6 ). We measured a TMR ratio of around 2% at room temperature, which arises between the parallel and antiparallel configurations of the cluster magnetic octupoles in the chiral antiferromagnetic state. Moreover, we carried out measurements using a Fe/MgO/Mn 3 Sn MTJ and show that the sign and direction of anisotropic longitudinal spin-polarized current in the antiferromagnet 7 can be controlled by octupole direction. Strikingly, the TMR ratio (about 2%) of the all-antiferromagnetic MTJ is much larger than that estimated using the observed spin polarization. Theoretically, we found that the chiral antiferromagnetic MTJ may produce a substantially large TMR ratio as a result of the time-reversal, symmetry-breaking polarization characteristic of cluster magnetic octupoles. Our work lays the foundation for the development of ultrafast and efficient spintronic devices using antiferromagnets 8–10 .
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0028-0836
,
1476-4687
DOI:
10.1038/s41586-022-05463-w
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
120714-3
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1413423-8
SSG:
11
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