Fe- and Co-based magnetic tunnel junctions with AlN and ZnO spacers

Abstract

AlN and ZnO, two wide band-gap semiconductors extensively used in the display industry, crystallise in the wurtzite structure, which can favour the formation of epitaxial interfaces to close-packed common ferromagnets. Here we explore these semiconductors as material for insulating barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions. In particular, the {\it ab initio} quantum transport code {\it Smeagol} is used to model the $X$[111]/$Y$[0001]/$X$[111] ($X=$ Co and Fe, $Y=$ AlN and ZnO) family of junctions. Both semiconductors display a valance-band top with $p$-orbital character, while the conduction band bottom exhibits $s$-type symmetry. The smallest complex-band decay coefficient in the forbidden energy-gap along the [0001] direction is associated with the $\Delta_1$ symmetry, and connects across the band gap at the $\Gamma$ point in 2D Brillouin zones. This feature enables spin filtering and may result in a large tunnelling magnetoresistance. In general, we find that Co-based junctions present limited spin filtering and little magnetoresistance at low bias, since both spin sub-bands cross the Fermi level with $\Delta_1$ symmetry. This contrasts the situation of Fe, where only the minority $\Delta_1$ band is available. However, even in the case of Fe the magnitude of the magnetoresistance at low bias remains relatively small, mostly due to conduction away from the $\Gamma$ point and through complex bands with symmetry different than $\Delta_1$. The only exception is for the Fe/AlN/Fe junction, where we predict a magnetoresitance of around 1,000\% at low bias.