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which discriminates between scattered and ballistic (not scattered) electrons. The base can

be made of any magnetoresistive metal system.

2.2.The spin valve effect

GMR effect can be observed in the conduction process in magnetic materials,particularly

the transition metals Fe, Co and Ni.Conduction electrons are divided in to two classes ,

those whose spin is parallel to the local magnetization and those whose spin is anti

parallel .The resistance to the flow of an electronic current in a metal is determined by the

scattering processes to which the electrons are subject. If the scattering processes are

strong and effective, the mean free path (mfp) of an electron between scattering processes

is small and the resistance is large.Conversely, weak scattering processes lead to a long

mfp and a low resistance.

Fig 2.1: Graph of conduction in multilayer magnetic film array, showing how differential

spin scattering produces a different resistance for antiparallel (a) and parallel (b) film

magnetizations.

Consider now electronic conduction in a multilayer array such as shown in Fig.

2.1 In Fig. 2.1a the magnetic moments of successive ferromagnetic layers (Co) are

antiparallel due to antiferromagnetic coupling across the spacer layer (Cu). In (b) they are

parallel due to an external magnetic field which is strong enough to overcome the

antiferromagnetic coupling. In case of Fig.2.1a , antiparallel moments, no electron can

traverse two magnetic layers without becoming unfavored , highly scattered species. An

electron conserves its spin orientation as it traverses a solid .Therefore if it was the

favored 'up' electron in an 'up' magnetization layer it becomes the unfavored 'down'


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electron in an 'up' magnetization layer as soon as it traverses the few ngstroms of the

spacer layer. In the case depicted in Fig.2.1a , by contrast, an electron having the favored

'up' spin orientation in one magnetic layer has the same favored orientation in all layers,

and can traverse the array relatively freely. For configuration (a) no electron traverses the

array freely; for (b) half of the electron species can traverse the array relatively freely, and

a significant difference in resistance is measured between the parallel and anti-parallel

arrays.


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Chapter 3

SPIN VALVE TRANSISTOR

3.1 Spin valve transistor principle

The perpendicular electron transport and exponential mean free path dependence in metal

base transistors allows for fundamental detection of the perpendicular spin valve effect by

incorporating a spin valve into the base. The base is formed by a spin valve. A

Co44/Cu88/Co8/Pt88 sandwich base is sputtered onto a Si (100) collector

substrate. The emitter is negatively biased (forward) using a DC current source, the

collector substrate is in reverse (positive voltage bias), in common base. The two

magnetic layers act as polarizer and analyzer.

Fig3.1Schematic cross section of the spin-valve transistor. A Co44/Cu88/Co8/Pt88

sandwichbase is rf-sputtered onto the Si(100) collector substrate.

A Pt capping layer on top of the spin valve is used to make the emitter Schottky

barrier larger than the collector barrier, in order to decrease quantum mechanical

reflections at the collector barrier. This can also be seen in the schematic energy band

diagram of the bonded Co/Cu spin-valve transistor in Fig. 4.1.


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Fig. 3.2 Schematic energy band diagram of the spin-valve transistor under forward bias.

3.2 Current Transfer

The emitter bias accelerates the electrons over the emitter barrier, after which they

constitute the hot, quasi-ballistic electrons in the base. The probability of passing the

collector barrier is limited by collisions in the base, which affect their energy and

trajectory (momentum), by optical phonon scattering in the semiconductors and by

quantum mechanical reflections at the base-collector interface. For a metal base transistor

with a single metal base film the relationship between the collector current density Jc and

the injected emitter current density Jinj is

(3.1)

Where W is the base width (=thickness) and the mean free path of the injected hot

electrons in the base. e represents the emitter efficiency, qm represents quantum

mechanical transmission and c represents the collector efficiency. Jleakage is the

collector leakage current, determined by the reverse biased collector Schottky barrier and

Je is the injected emitter current. The avalanche multiplication factor M depends on


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device design but if impact ionization is absent, equals one. The leakage current of the

collector may also contribute to the total collector current.

The emitter to collector current transfer ratio or current gain is defined as:

.(3.2)

Where the collector leakage current has been neglected. Here 0 is the common base

current gain and * is the common base current gain extrapolated to zero base thickness.

The factor represents the probability of transmission of the hot electrons through

the base. Jc is the total collector current. In the spin-valve transistor under consideration,

the collector current of the Co/Cu spinvalve transistor depends exponentially on the spin

dependent hot electron mean free paths in the base. Neglecting spin-flip scattering, we

may consider the spin upand spin down electrons to carry the current in parallel (two

current model). Following this idea, the collector current of the Co/Cu spin-valve

transistor is

expressed as:

(3.3)

() denotes the product of transmission probabilities of spin up (+) and down (-)

electrons through each layer and interface. In first approximation we takee, c and qm

similar for the two species of electrons since these quantities reflect the properties of the

semiconductors and Schottky barriers. At saturation, all Co layers have their

magnetization parallel.

The sum of the transmission probability factors for the two spin channels can then

be written as:


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(3.4)

At the coercive field, this quantity becomes:

(3.5)

Where WCo expresses the sum of all Co layer widths (total Co thickness) which is valid

for equally thick layers, W is half of the total Co thickness, WCu is the total Cu

thickness, the majority (minority) MFPs in the Co layers and Cu the MFP in the Cu

layer. The factor 2 in eqn appears because the two parallel channels are equal for

antiparallel magnetizations. The values of the collector current in the parallel (P) and

antiparallel (AP) magnetic configurations are then obtained .

The typical properties in the spin valve transistor are thus:

1. Perpendicular GMR can be measured down to tri-layers

2. Exponential amplification of the magnetoresistance occurs because the transfer is

exponentially dependent on the electron mean free path in the base

3. Electron energy can be varied so electron spectroscopy can be performed by

changing emitter Schottky barrier height (or tunnel bias)

4. Measurements can be done at cryogenic and room temperature

5. Since the scattering processes appear as products in the transfer equation., the

spin dependent scattering centers can be located accurately and, in contrast to

common - CPP MR, the relative change in collector current CC(%) is not

decreased by spin independent scattering processes such as in the Cu layers or in

the semiconductors


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6. As a consequence of the direct MFP dependence of the transmission across the

base, the spin valve transistor allows quantification of spin dependent electron

MFPs

7. The output is a high impedance current source.

3.3 Resistance measurement

Resistance of the multilayer can be measured with Current In Plane (CIP) or

Current Perpendicular to the Plane (CPP) configurations. CIP is the easiest experimental

approach of electrical transport in magnetic multilayers. But the drawback of CIP

configuration is that the spin valve effect is diminished by shunting because many

electron travel within one layer because of channeling. Uncoupled multilayer or

sandwiches with thick spacer layer suffer from this problem .Spin independent boundary

scattering reduces the CIP magneto resistance largely in thin sandwiches. Also,

fundamental parameters of the effect, such as the relative contributions of interface and

bulk spin dependent scatterings are difficult to obtain using the CIP geometry. Measuring

with the Current Perpendicular to the Planes (CPP) solve most of these problems, mainlybecause the electrons cross all magnetic layers, but a practical difficulty is encountered:

the perpendicular resistance of the ultra thin multilayers is too small to be measured by

ordinary techniques

.


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Fig. 3.3 a. CIP-GMR: shunting and channeling of electrons in the magnetic and

nonmagnetic layers versus b. CPP-GMR: perpendicular electrons cross all magnetic

layers, no shunting at antiparallel alignment.

As shown in Fig. 3.3, a high resistant state (in zero field) can only be obtained if

electrons cross at least two magnetic layers with antiparallel orientation. Because many

electrons travel almost parallel to the layers in the CIP-GMR, and do not cross many

layers, the adjacent layers must have the antiparallel orientation, i.e. they need an

antiferromagnetic coupling. In the case of CPP-GMR the electrons cross all layers, and a

random orientation of the layers produces the same high resistant state as the AF-coupled

state (selfaveraging). In CIP-GMR the electric field is independent of position in the

film, but the current density depends on the perpendicular direction to the film. Thecharacteristic length scale is the longest mean free path. For CPP transport, the electric

field depends on the perpendicular position in the film, but the current density is

independent of position in the film. The spin diffusion length is the new length scale.

3.4 Scattering Mechanism

To stress the difference with Fermi transport, we demonstrate the electron energy

dependence of the scattering mechanisms in it.

Three important transport processes affect GMR:

1. spin dependent bulk scattering in the magnetic layers

2. spin dependent scattering at the interfaces

3. reflection at the interfaces due to band mismatch between the layers.

The scattering processes leading to bulk scattering have quasi elastic phonon,

magnon and elastic defect scattering. The scattering processes leading to diffusive

interface scattering are mainly temperature independent elastic defect and impurity

scattering. Inelastic electron-electron interactions are neglected both for Fermi transport

and hot electrons .Also, phonon and magnon scattering are neglected (low temperature

restriction), but may be included when finite temperatures are considered. Since defect


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and impurity scattering are of the same nature, both interface and bulk scattering may be

included in one picture, taking different relaxation times only. The third process,

quantum mechanical reflection at the layer interfaces, is entirely different. CPP transport

incorporating the interface and bulk diffusive scattering has been modeled by the series

resistor model which was used very effectively to describe the resistance in CPP

experiments. The total resistance is

Here rP and rAP are the CPP resistances per unit area and per superlattice period

in the parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetic configurations respectively. . and .

are used for the majority and minority spin directions in a magnetic layer. F is theexperimentally measured bulk resistivity of the ferromagnetic film, * N is the non-

magnetic bulk resistivity and r* b is the spin averaged interface resistance.

3.5 Electron transport in the spin valve transistor

3.5.1 Schottky (Thermionic) injection: emitter efficiencyeThe various ways in which electrons can be transported across a metal-

semiconductor junction under forward bias are shown schematically for an n-type

semiconductor . The mechanisms are:

(a) emission of electrons from the semiconductor over the top of the barrier into the metal

(b) temperature assisted tunneling through the barrier: thermionic field emission

(c) direct tunneling through the barrier: field emission


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(d) recombination in the space charge region

(e) recombination in the neutral region (hole injection)

It is possible to make Schottky barrier diodes in which (a) is the most important transportmechanism and such diodes are generally referred to as nearly ideal. Processes (b) and

(c) may contribute under high doping and low temperature conditions. Under normal

conditions, (c) and (e) hardly contribute. The relative contributions of the other transport

processes depend mainly upon temperature, doping and applied bias To analyze the

injection of electrons into the base, the electron potential energy as a function of distance

from the metal is schematically drawn in Fig. 4.4.

In Fig. 3.4 qe is the barrier height and qe is the emitter barrier

lowering due to the electric field and the image force. xl is the point where an electron at

rest in the emitter has enough energy to surmount a collector barrier of height c.qec

is the energy difference between the emitter and collector barriers of the full metal base

transistor structure.

Fig. 3.4 Electron potential energy qas a function of distance in a metal semiconductor

Schottky barrier and electron transport processes under forward bias condition


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As shown in Fig. 3.4 the barrier maximum is not at x=0 but at xm. This deviation

is due to the image force correction. According to the thermionic emission-diffusion

theory the forward transport of electrons according to process (a) can be described as:

..(3.9)

where J is the forward current density, IRs is the voltage drop due to series resistance and

(3.10)

is the saturation current density and A** is the effective Richardson constant

The ideality factor n is defined as

.(3.11)

which is reflected by the slope of the forward current response. The contribution of

transport processes (b), (c), (d) and (e) to the total injection current causes the n-factor to

become larger than 1.

qm:Quantum mechanical transmission factor at the collector barrierQuantum mechanics allows particles to penetrate an energy barrier larger than its

own energy. Also , a particle with energy larger than a potential barrier, may be partly

reflected. Because the average electron kinetic energy in the metal is much larger than in

the semiconductor due to the addition of the Fermi energy of the metal. This energy is

lost in when the electron enters the conduction band of the collector semiconductor. A

simple step potential model of the collector Schottky barrier gives some insight in the

relative importance of parameters. The relatively large electron energy loss justifies the


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use of a step potential to model the Schottky barrier. For smaller energy losses when

using metals with small Fermi energies such as Cs (1.5eV) would require more correct

potential shapes, as presented in Fig. 4.5.

Fig. 3.5 Metal semiconductor barrier models

3.5.3 Semiconductor transport: collector efficiencyc


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Fig. 3.6 Collector Schottky barrier under reverse bias showing the maximum of the

barrier at xm resulting from image force lowering and reverse transport mechanisms (a)

thermionic emission (b) thermionic field emission and (c) field emission.

The angle of acceptance in the collector is quite small When electrons

are transmitted into the collector within the angle of acceptance, there is a further

limitation to collection: electron-phonon scatterings before the collector barrier maximum

may throw back the electron into the metal. As in the emitter, within the collector,

electrons can scatter by emission of optical phonons. As shown in Fig. 4.6 the position of

the Schottky barrier maximum is not at the metallurgical M-S interface but is shifted by a

few nm into the semiconductor due to the image potential.

Electrons with energies just over the threshold for transmission that excite

phonons in the region before the Schottky barrier maximum are expected to have a high

probability of reentering the metal. Beyond the Schottky barrier maximum, the internal

electric field in the depletion region accelerates the electrons toward the interior of n-type

semiconductors. Therefore the effect of phonon scattering on the magnitude of Ib in the

region beyond the Schottky barrier maximum depends on the doping density of the

semiconductor, since this defines the length of the depletion region and thus the

acceleration rate.

3.5.4 Impact ionization: avalanche multiplication

Once the kinetic energy of the electrons in the collector semiconductor exceeds

Eg, electron-hole pair generation, or impact ionization, becomes possible, see Fig. 4.7.

This process is usually employed in Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) to increase the

detector current. This process can also take place in metal base transistor structures, and

has recently been observed as a parasitic process in BEEM experiments

In reverse biased Schottky diodes ,breakdown may occur due to tunneling or

avalanche breakdown. When the electric field in a semiconductor is increased above a

certain value, the carriers gain enough energy so that they can excite electron-hole pairs

by impact ionization.


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The electron-hole pair generation rate G for impact ionization is given by

..(3.12)

Where n is the electron ionization rate defined as the number of electron-hole

pairs generated by an electron per unit distance traveled. Similarlyp is the analogously

defined ionization rate for holes. n,p is strongly field dependent as can be observed in

the physical expression for the ionization rate

(3.13)

Fig. 3.7 Electron-hole pair generation in the reverse biased collector barrier

where Ei is the high field, effective ionization threshold energy, F the electric

field, and FkT, Fp and Fi are the threshold fields for carriers to overcome the decelerating

effects of thermal (phonon), optical phonon and ionization scattering, respectively. For Si,

the value Ei is found to be 3.6 eV for electrons and 5eV for holes.


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3.5.5 Schottky reverse saturation current: collector leakage current Jbc

The reverse current of the collector barrier can be considered to be a parasitic

current which limits detection of the hot electron current in the collector under certain

conditions. The principal leakage current is determined by electrons which have a thermal

energy larger than the barrier height. Obviously this current is very sensitive to

temperature and was deduced from the thermionic emission theory as

.(3.14)

where A** is the effective Richardson constant

A plot of the calculated saturation current versus barrier height for Si is shown in

Fig 3.8

Fig. 3.8 saturation current density Js versus barrier height, at T=77, 200 and 295K. A**

has been taken 112 (A cmK) forSi.


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Chapter 4

Vacuum bonding: Spin valve transistor preparation

4.1. Schematic process flow

In vaccum bonding initially cleaning process is done. For this 1 micron tetra ethyl ortho

silicate (TEOS) SiO2 is used as protecting layer and the Si fragments are etched away

using HF/HNO3 at room temperature isotropic etch.

Preparation scheme is shown in figure 4.1.

Fig. 4.1 Schematic process flow for the preparation of vacuum bonded spin valvetransistors

4.2 Deposition of the base layers

For deposition of the base layers a DC-RF magnetron sputtering

machine is used. The robot is inserted into loadlock F and transported using beam G to

the main chamber A after approximately 1 hour pumping. Multilayers can be deposited


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using a computer controlled rotating table and deposition shutters.

Fig. 4.2 High vacuum DC/RF magnetron sputter system.

The properties of the system are: background pressure typically 10-9 mbar, three

magnetron sputter guns, variable substrate-target distance, heated substrate table, RF andDC power supplies. Twelve different samples can be sputtered in one run using the

specially designed substrate rotator, of which a schematic picture is shown in Fig. 4.2.

Fig. 4.3 Substrate rotator for multiple in-situ sample preparation.

Spring 1 is wound up using manipulator 2. Samples 6 are mounted on rotating table 4.

Deposition occurs via 5. Substrate selection is via magnetically coupled beam 3. In thisway optimized GMR multilayers and sandwiches can be found quickly.


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4.3 Emitter wafer thinning

After bonding, the emitter substrate has to be thinned down to dimensions which allowdefinition of transistors to micron dimensions. For this reason, the emitter has to be

thinned down to about 1 to 5 micron. A major requirement is that the emitter substrate

needs a highly doped region for ohmic contact formation. In so called BESOI (Bond and

Etch back Silicon On Insulator) several techniques are known to come to a small device

layer: 1. Grinding and polishing 2. Etch stop layers

Grinding and polishing is a possibility for the required device layer thickness, and

would be the most obvious way for standard wafer size. Thickness variations of about 0.5

microns are achievable. In grinding one has to be careful with subsurface damage and the

final etching has to be performed chemo-mechanically. However for small samples

chemo mechanical polishing is not used.

Using etch stop layers thickness variation of about 5 microns is obtained

Etch stops using HF anodic etching usually provide fast etching of p type and n++ type,

so in this case an etch stop on n++ is not possible. Moreover, it is difficult to grow defectfree device n-layers wafers on a buried n++ layer, sufficiently high doped for ohmic

contact formation. This problem also plays a role in etch stops using highly B doped p++

Si and KOH, TMAH or EPW. Another disadvantage of this technique is that it is difficult

to grow defect free layers on top of this layer .Addition of larger Ge to the B atoms

provides stress free etch stop layers without misfit dislocations. Electrochemical etch

stops using P/N junctions require KOH etching at elevated temperatures with the

additional buried n++ layer problem.

4.4 Completed spin valve transistor structures

Following emitter thinning, the base region is defined using photolithography photoresist

prebaked at 900C was used to protect the base either during wet etching (10:HO/1:HF)

during 20 seconds (for Co/Cu) or using ion beam etching during 30 minutes. To reduce

the large sputter induced leakage currents after ion beam etching, a short TMAH silicon


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etch is necessary to remove the damaged silicon surface next to the base. For the

HO/HF base etch this is not required since it does not introduce defects and grows a

surface passivating SiO automatically. Since the HO/HF tends to attack the photoresist,

care has to be taken not to etch longer than 1 minute. After the base etching procedure,the substrate is glued using conducting room temperature curing epoxy with its backside

ohmic contact to a printed circuit board, aluminum wires are ultrasonically bonded to the

base and emitters and is ready for electrical characterization .

4.5 Processing other semiconductors

Experiments with Germanium collectors have also been performed. The

difference in preparation before metal deposition with Si is that Ge can be etched using

HF/HO (1/10). This etchant does not attack photo resist and consequently, the surface

can be protected with a single (hardbaked) photoresist layer. First experiments with

epitaxially grown n-GaAs films on n+ GaAs substrates have also provided excellent

bonds. Photoresist was employed to offer protection during a HSO/HO/H0 fragment

etch. There are new ways to obtain both a very clean GaAs surface and very goodSchottky barriers: an AlAs layer has been grown in situ over the epitaxial GaAs layer,

providing protection of the GaAs surface. (it is even possible to use a buried AlAs layer

as an etch stop with citric acid/HO etchants .This top layer is removed using a very

selective HF 2% (1 min) dip as a final cleaning step prior to bonding. We found nearly

ideal Schottky barriers using this method. Another technique for preparing ideal Schottky

barriers on GaAs involves substrate heating (5500C) before deposition.

4.6 Other spin-valve configurations

4.6.1 Granular GMR

As indicated, it is very difficult to measure perpendicular transport GMR.

An intermediate between in-plane and perpendicular GMR can be created by making


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small ferromagnetic grains in a metallic matrix. A sketch of such a system is given in

Fig. 4.6.1

In granular systems the ferromagnetic particles are assumed to be single domain

and uncoupled. In this case the resistance will be largest for randomly oriented particles,

which occurs when the total magnetization of the sample is zero, and lowest at applied

saturation field Hs. The GMR in granular systems in independent of the direction of the

applied field, unlike in multi layers where the saturating field is larger for perpendicular

fields, than for in-plane fields.

Fig.4.4 Sketch of granular GMR (G2MR). The high resistant state can be the uncoupled

random state of magnetic granules.

The MR is mostly due to spin dependent grain-matrix interface scattering and to a

lesser extent, from spin dependent scattering within the magnetic grains. The major

disadvantage of granular systems is the saturation field which is usually very large ..

However, this causes local pinholes in the nonmagnetic spacer layers to be filled with

ferromagnetic material, inducing ferromagnetic bridging between the magnetic layers.

This effect is decreased when the ferromagnetic layers consist of clusters ,because theferromagnetic bridging does not proceed across the whole magnetic layer, but is limited

to one granule. For the spin-valve transistor this separation of magnetic layers in clusters

to avoid ferromagnetic bridging is not required, since the spacer layer can be made thick

enough

4.6.2 Inverse GMR


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When the resistance of a spin valve system increases under application of

a magnetic field, it is said to be inverse GMR. However, this effect may be related to

three principles: The first is the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) which may lead to

parasitic effects, and which may, depending on current-field angle, produce an inverse

behaviour. The second is the simple observation that the magnetisation of the magnetic

layers orient more into antiparallel directions, like in Co/Cu multilayers going from zero

field to the coercive field.. The third effect is of more relevance: it is related to the band

structure of certain materials that cause inverse spin asymmetry. The inverse GMR effects

can be accounted for qualitatively by opposite scattering spin asymmetries in Co (positive

spin asymmetry) and A (negative spin asymmetry) (A is an alloy). For two layers with

both positive spin asymmetry, high resistance is observed, ergo normal GMR. If however

the lower magnetic layer is replaced by an alloy with negative spin asymmetry, electrons

that passed freely through the first layer can also pass the second layer, and now the

antiparallel situation represents a low resistance state, hence inverse GMR. Quantitatively

the inverse effect can be accounted for by introducing bulk and interface spin asymmetry

coefficients as in CPP-GMR, and respectively.

4.6.3 Magnetic tunnel junctions: MTJs

Electrons are able to pass from one conducting electrode (initial electrode) to

another (final electrode) via a thin insulator (1-5 nm) with an energy barrier larger than

the electron energy. This quantum transport phenomenon is called electron tunneling.

Instead of a Schottky barrier to create hot electrons in the spin valve base, the spin valve

transistor can also be made using incorporation of a tunneling emitter A tunnel collector

could also be opted for, as in MOMOM (M=metal, O=oxide) high speed devices. A

magnetic tunnel junction acting as emitter could add extra magnetic field dependence to

the collector current change, since the transmission of the tunnel structure as well as the

transfer characteristics in the base spin valve add constructively. In case of an

antiferromagnetic tunnel barrier such as NiO or CoO, the tunnel injection could be

combined with the pinning abilities, to construct exchange biased spin valves in the base.

In the normal case magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) consist of a ferromagnetic initial

electrode, an oxidic barrier and again a ferromagnetic final electrode.With no voltage


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applied the Fermi levels of the two electrodes must align. Under application of a bias, a

voltage drop V and energy level difference eV across the insulator is found. The current is

found using Fermis golden rule: the number of electrons tunneling is given by the

product of the density of filled states at a given energy in one electrode and the density of

empty states in the other electrode at the same energy multiplied by the square

of a matrix element describing the probability of tunneling. For this model the total

current from the initial electrode to the final electrode is proportional to

.(4.6.1)

In the model proposed by Julliere, it is assumed that the spin is conserved in the

tunneling process and that the conductance of each spin direction is proportional to the

density of states of that spin in each electrode. In this model one expects the tunneling

current to be larger when magnetizations are parallel as compared to antiparallel

orientations. The conductances of the junctions are then:

..(4.6.2)

..(4.6.3)

I(ap)par the current in the (anti)parallel case, where Ni the number of available electrons

on the injecting electrode and Df the number of available empty sites in the DOS of the

collecting electrode.

This situation may be illustrated graphically


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Fig. 4.5 Illustration of effect in magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) consisting of two

ferromagnetic electrodes separated by an insulator. In the case of parallel

magnetisations, Ni,up*Df,up>0, hence acurrent may be flowing. In the antiparallel case,

Df,up=0 and Ni,down=0, consequently zero current.


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Chapter5

APPLICATIONS, ADVANTAGES AND SCOPE

5.1.Advantages1. Traditional transistors use on and off currents to create bits the binary zero and

one of computer information, quantum spin valve transistor will use up and down

spin states to generate the same binary data.

2. Currently logic is usually carried out using conventional electrons, while spin is

used for memory. Spintronics will combine both.

3. In most semi conducting transistors the relative proportion of up and down

carrier types are equal. If ferromagnetic material is used as the carrier source then

the ratio can be deliberately skewed in one direction.

4. Amplification and/or switching properties of the device can be controlled by the

external magnetic field applied to the device.

5. One of the problems of charge current electrons is that we pack more devicestogether, chip heats up. Spin current releases heat but it is rather less

5.2. Applications

1 Spin valve transistors have huge potential for incoporatio in stable, high

sensitivity magnetic field sensors for automotive , robotic , mechanicalengineering and data storage applications.

2 It finds its application towards quantum computer, a new trend in computing

here we use qubits instead of bits.Qubit exploit spin up and spin down states

as super positions of zero and one.

3 They have the advantage over conventional semi conductor chips that do not

require power to maintain their memory state.


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4 This may also be used as Magnetically controlled parametric amplifiers and

mixers, as magnetic signal processors for control of brush less dc motors as

magnetic logic elements.

5.3. Related works

Scientists have recently proposed new class of spin transistors, referred to as

spin-filter transistor (SFT) and spin metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor

(spin MOSFET), and their integrated circuit applications. The fundamental device

structures and theoretically predicted device performance are theoretically calculated

predicted. The spin MOSFETs potentially exhibit significant magnetotransport effect

such as large magneto-current and also satisfy important requirements for integrated

circuit applications such as high transconductance, low power-delay product, and low off-

current. Since the spin MOSFETs can perform signal processing and logic operations and

can store digital data using both of the charge transport and the spin degree of freedom,

they are expected to be building blocks for a memory cell and logic gates on spin-

electronic integrated circuits. Novel spin-electronic integrated circuit architectures for

nonvolatile memory and reconfigurable logic employing spin MOSFETs are also

proposed.

Now researcher Christian Schoenenberger and colleagues at the University

of Basel, Switzerland, describe a carbon nanotube transistor operating on a same

principle, opening a promising avenue toward the introduction of spin-based devices into

computer chips. A device consisting of a single carbon nanotube connected to two

magnetic electrodes that control the orientation of the electrons spins have been

developed.

5.4. Future scope

There are major efforts on going at ibm, Motorola in developing RAM based on

spin valves, such devices called MRAMs have demonstrated faster speeds, high density


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,low power consumptions and nonvolatility. They are promising replacement for semi

conducting rams currently used

Also reserches are going on to replace Pt with suitable combinations of metal

(low cost alloys ) in order to make it affordable at minimum cost.


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Chapter 6

CONCLUSION

Now it is clear that spin valve transistor is more versatile and more robust but itneeds further fabrication methods to improve magnetic sensitivity of collector current.

The greatest hurdle for spintronic engineers may be controlling all that spin. To do it on

a single transistor is already feasible, while to do it on a whole cicuit will require some

clever ideas.

In the spin-valve transistor perpendicular GMR can be measured down to tri-

layers. Exponential amplification of the magnetoresistance occurs because the transfer is

exponentially dependent on the electron mean free path in the base. Electron energy can

be varied so electron spectroscopy can be performed by changing emitter Schottky barrier

height (or tunnel bias). Measurements can be done at cryogenic and room temperature.

Since the scattering processes appear as products in the transfer equation., the spin

dependent scattering centers can be located accurately and, in contrast to common CPP-

MR, the relative change in collector current CC(%) is not decreased by spin independent

scattering processes such as in the Cu layers or in the semiconductors.

However the key question will be whether any potential benefit of such

technology will be worth the production cost. Spin valve transistors and other spin

devices will become affordable by using common metals.


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REFERENCES

Journals:

[1] Dr S.S. Verma , Spintronics for the Ultimate in Performance Electronics for

You , VOL. 34 NO. 8.August 2002, Pages 110-113

Websites:

[1] www.el.utwente.nl/tdm/istg

[2] www.reserch.ibm.com

[3] www.nature.com/nphys/index.htm

[4] www.SiliconFarEast.com
http://www.el.utwente.nl/tdm/istghttp://www.el.utwente.nl/tdm/istghttp://www.reserch.ibm.com/http://www.reserch.ibm.com/http://www.nature.com/nphys/index.htmhttp://www.nature.com/nphys/index.htmhttp://www.siliconfareast.com/http://www.siliconfareast.com/http://www.siliconfareast.com/http://www.nature.com/nphys/index.htmhttp://www.reserch.ibm.com/http://www.el.utwente.nl/tdm/istg

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