TY - JOUR
T1 - Spin-Current Control by Induced Electric Polarization Reversal in Ni/hBN/Ni
T2 - A Cross-Correlation Material
AU - Harfah, Halimah
AU - Wicaksono, Yusuf
AU - Majidi, Muhammad A.
AU - Kusakabe, Koichi
N1 - Funding Information:
The calculations were performed at the computer centers of Kyushu University. All crystalline structure visualizations were generated by XCrySDen. This work was partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. JP26400357, JP16H00914 in Science of Atomic Layers, and JP18K03456. Y.W. and H. H. gratefully acknowledge scholarship support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) within the “Innovative Asia” Program, ID Number D1707483 and D1805252. All the authors thank Dr. E. H. Hasdeo and Dr. M. K. Agusta for their fruitful discussions.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2020/6/23
Y1 - 2020/6/23
N2 - We undertook an ab-initio study of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) sandwiched between Ni(111) layers to examine the interface of this material structure. We considered Ni(111)/hBN/Ni(111) with a slab with three Ni atomic layers to determine the exact atom arrangement at the interface. The density functional theory calculations for 36 stacking arrangements, which are doubled with respect to the magnetic alignment of slabs in an antiparallel configuration (APC) and parallel configuration (PC), revealed that the number of formed weak chemical bonds, in the pd-hybridization between the N and Ni atoms, is decisive. A maximum of two pd-hybridization bonds stabilized the structure, with APC proving to be the most favorable magnetic alignment, in line with the results of previous experimental studies. In the lowest energy state, an induced magnetic moment at an N site appears when N is moved closer to one of the Ni atoms. Interestingly, the moment direction is switched by the position of the N layer in the resulting bistable state with electrical polarization when APC is chosen. The transmission probability calculation of Ni/hBN/Ni having the determined interface structure at the center of the junction exhibits a spin-filtering effect, where the spin-polarized current is controlled by the electric field when a field-induced reversal of the polarization is realized.
AB - We undertook an ab-initio study of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) sandwiched between Ni(111) layers to examine the interface of this material structure. We considered Ni(111)/hBN/Ni(111) with a slab with three Ni atomic layers to determine the exact atom arrangement at the interface. The density functional theory calculations for 36 stacking arrangements, which are doubled with respect to the magnetic alignment of slabs in an antiparallel configuration (APC) and parallel configuration (PC), revealed that the number of formed weak chemical bonds, in the pd-hybridization between the N and Ni atoms, is decisive. A maximum of two pd-hybridization bonds stabilized the structure, with APC proving to be the most favorable magnetic alignment, in line with the results of previous experimental studies. In the lowest energy state, an induced magnetic moment at an N site appears when N is moved closer to one of the Ni atoms. Interestingly, the moment direction is switched by the position of the N layer in the resulting bistable state with electrical polarization when APC is chosen. The transmission probability calculation of Ni/hBN/Ni having the determined interface structure at the center of the junction exhibits a spin-filtering effect, where the spin-polarized current is controlled by the electric field when a field-induced reversal of the polarization is realized.
KW - cross-correlation material
KW - density functional theory
KW - Ni/hBN/Ni
KW - spin-filtering
KW - tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105780947&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00238
DO - 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00238
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85105780947
SN - 2637-6113
VL - 2
SP - 1689
EP - 1699
JO - ACS Applied Electronic Materials
JF - ACS Applied Electronic Materials
IS - 6
ER -