Investigation of the half-metallicity, magnetism and spin transport properties of double half-Heusler alloys Mn2CoCrZ2 (Z = P, As)

First-principles study of the structure, magnetism, and electronic properties of the all-Heusler alloy Co2MnGe/CoTiMnGe(100) heterojunction

Based on first-principles calculations in the density functional theory, we systematically investigated the possible interface structure, magnetism, and electronic properties of the all-Heusler alloy Co2MnGe/CoTiMnGe(100) heterojunction. The calculation indicated that the Co2MnGe Heusler alloy is a half-metal with a magnetic moment of 4.97 μB. CoTiMnGe is a narrow-band gap semiconductor and may act as an ultra-sensitive photocatalyst. We cannot find an "ideal" spin-polarization of 100% in CoCo termination and MnGe termination. Due to the interface interaction, the direct magnetic hybridization or indirect RKKY exchange will be weakened, leading to an increase in the atomic magnetic moment of the interfacial layer. For eight possible heterojunction structures, the half-metallic gaps in the Co2MnGe bulk have been destroyed by the inevitable interface states. The spin-polarization value of 94.31% in the CoCo-TiGe-B heterojunction revealed that it is the most stable structure. It is feasible to search for high-performance magnetic tunnel junction by artificially constructing suitable all-Heusler alloy heterojunctions.

Magnetic-ferroelectric synergic control of multilevel conducting states in van der Waals multiferroic tunnel junctions towards in-memory computing

van der Waals (vdW) multiferroic tunnel junctions (MFTJs) based on two-dimensional materials have gained significant interest due to their potential applications in next-generation data storage and in-memory computing devices. In this study, we construct vdW MFTJs by employing monolayer Mn2Se3 as the spin-filter tunnel barrier, TiTe2 as the electrodes and In2S3 as the tunnel barrier to investigate the spin transport properties based on first-principles quantum transport calculations. It is highlighted that apparent tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and tunneling electroresistance (TER) effects with a maximum TMR ratio of 6237% and TER ratio of 1771% can be realized by using bilayer In2S3 as the tunnel barrier under finite bias. Furthermore, the physical origin of the distinguished TMR and TER effects is unraveled from the k||-resolved transmission spectra and spin-dependent projected local density of states analysis. Interestingly, four distinguishable conductance states reveal the implementation of four-state nonvolatile data storage using one MFTJ unit. More importantly, in-memory logic computing and multilevel data storage can be achieved at the same time by magnetic switching and electrical control, respectively. These results shed light on vdW MFTJs in the applications of in-memory computing as well as multilevel data storage devices.

Large magnetoresistance and temperature-driven spin filter effect in spin valve based on half Heusler alloy

High spin-injection-efficiency (SIE) and thermal spin-filter-effect (SFE) from a magnetic material to a barrier material are crucial to the high performance of a spintronic device and a spin caloritronic device, respectively. By performing a nonequilibrium Green's function combined with first-principles calculations, we study the voltage-driven and temperature-driven spin transport properties of a half Heusler alloy RuCrAs based spin valve with different atom-terminated interfaces. The spin valve with a CrAs-top (or Ru-top) interface structure has an ultrahigh equilibrium magnetoresistance (MR) ratio of ∼1.56 × 10⁹% (or ∼5.14 × 10⁸%), ∼100% SIE, a large MR ratio, and high spin current intensity under bias voltage, suggesting that it has a great potential application in spintronic devices. The spin valve with the CrAs-top (or CrAs-bri) interface structure has a perfect SFE due to its very high spin polarization of temperature-driven currents, and it is useful in spin caloritronic devices.