Unconventional tunnel magnetoresistance scaling with altermagnets

Abstract

In conventional magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) typically increases with barrier thickness as electron transmission in the antiparallel configuration decays faster than that of the parallel configuration. In this work, we reveal an anomalous scaling effect in altermagnetic tunnel junctions (AMTJs), where the TMR decreases anomalously with an increasing barrier thickness. The anomalous scaling originates from the overlapping spin-split branches forming a transmission path that cannot be suppressed in the antiparallel state. Such phenomenon is explained by a double-barrier model and is further demonstrated using ab initio quantum transport simulations in 2D V2Te2O/Cr2Se2O/V2Te2O and V2Te2O/ZnSe/V2Te2O AMTJs. Our work identifies a peculiar unexpected transport characteristic of AMTJ, providing a fundamental limit on AMTJ device design and illustrating the potential optimal design of AMTJ at the ultrascaled monolayer limit.