PROJECT TITLE: Electric control of materials properties for spintronic and energy applications
MAIN RESEARCHERS: Miriam Jaafar COORDINATOR: Maria Varela
REFERENCE: PID2021-122980OB-C5x
FUNDED BY: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
SINCE: 2022 TO: 2025
BUDGET:
ABSTRACT: Spintronics is having a tremendous impact in our electronics and computing technologies with successful applications such as the hard
disk read head and the magnetic random-access memory. The foundational principle of spintronics relies on exploiting the spin of the electrons for reading and manipulating the magnetization of thin films. Tell-tale examples are found in the switching and reading of
magnetic tunnel junctions as well as in the controlled displacement of magnetic domain walls and skyrmions. The latter opened the possibility to realize memory devices in which the information is carried by mobile magnetic elements, thus having the potential to
overcome the memory capacity and the information processing speed of the current technologies. Despite the enormous progress that has been made, most technologies are still constrained to use metallic ferromagnets, which suffer from high losses and are limited in frequency. Besides, spin manipulation in metals is very challenging, which prevented the realization of spin logic devices. In this project, we propose to overcome the limitations of the current spintronic technologies by employing ferroelectric, ferrimagnetic, and antiferromagnetic materials in nanoscale engineered heterostructure devices. Thanks to the unique properties of these materials, we will explore new routes to electrically control chiral magnetic interactions and charge-to-spin conversion phenomena, as well as realize novel logic and memory applications that have the potential to be faster, denser, and consume less energy than the current ferromagnetic-based technologies. We will do so by combining 1) the growth of high-quality materials and functional heterostructures, 2) advanced device fabrication and characterization based on harmonic transport, magneto optical microscopy, scanning probe nanoscopy, and x-ray synchrotron-based imaging and spectroscopy measurements in the presence of magnetic fields and electric currents, and 3) ab initio simulations and spin transport theory for physics prediction and data interpretation
ARTICLES:
«Magnetic field screening of 2D materials revealed by magnetic force microscopy” D. A. Aldave, G. López-Polín*, E. Calle, A. Begué, R. Ranchal, R. Martínez, C. Bran, E.
Burzurí, J. Gómez-Herrero, P. Ares*, M. Jaafar*, Adv. Electron. Mater. 2024, 2400607 (Back cover)
«Tuning the out-of-plane magnetic textures of electrodeposited Ni90Fe10 thin films»
N Cotón, JP Andrés, M Jaafar, A Begué, R Ranchal – Journal of Applied Physics, 2024 Volumen 135 Número 9
«Stripe domains in electrodeposited Ni90Fe10 thin films» Noelia Cotón, Juan Pedro Andrés, Enrique Molina, Miriam Jaafar, Rocio Ranchal- Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 2023 Volumen 565, Páginas 170246
» Microwave Field-Induced Changes in Raman Modes and Magnetic Force Images of Antiferromagnetic NiO Films » Caso, D.; Serrano, A.; Jaafar, M.; Prieto, P.; Kamra, A.; González-Ruano, C.; Aliev, F.G.. Condens. Matter 2024, 9, 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat9010007